Never knowingly undersolved
A themed offering from Crucible this morning. This was a fun puzzle, with a fairly obvious theme. The themed entries are highlighted in the grid (green for direct theme entries, fuchsia for theme-related … Read more >>
Thank you to Carpathian for a nice Quiptic. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1 Demure love note for wild beast (6) COYOTE : COY(pretending to be shy/outwardly demure) + O(letter representing … Read more >>
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28190. For my money, the best Anto yet, by far. Bravo. ACROSS 7 BOOM BOOM Report on economic success indicates it’s a joke! (4,4) Now here’s an … Read more >>
Seeing Picaroon on Friday suggested Paul (since we hadn’t seen him during the week) for the Saturday slot, which would bring him back into sync with my monthly Saturday blog – but it … Read more >>
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28188. I must say that my first reaction on completing this puzzle was that it was a good workmanlike job, but on reflection, I see this an … Read more >>
It’s Paul setting the challenge this morning, after nearly two weeks’ absence. Here we have an entertaining puzzle, with a variety of clues, some a bit 27ac – but it’s Paul – and … Read more >>
A fun challenge – my favourites were 4ac, 9ac, 15ac, and 4dn. Thanks to Qaos… …there is a theme around SPINAL TAP, a fictional band from the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap [wiki] … Read more >>
Pasquale in gentle mood today, with almost no obscurities (for me, anyway: others may disagree). Mostly very straightforward clueing, with a couple of devices that have been round the block a few times. … Read more >>
As always, a sound and pleasing Quiptic from Pan. I have given full explanations for those still a little mystified by cryptic conventions, but if there is anything that isn’t clear, you only … Read more >>
The commenters on the Guardian website seem to like this one, so who am I to argue? I’ll be frank. This was not my type of puzzle, but one man’s meat is another … Read more >>
A fun puzzle with a subtle theme of misdirections. I probably wouldn’t have noticed the theme here, except that I managed to join the first 20 minutes of John Halpern’s zoom call last … Read more >>
A nice challenge. Thank you to Picaroon. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1 Act weakly to have debts seized by creditor (5) COWER : OWE(to have debts outstanding) contained in(seized by) … Read more >>
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28181. It takes me a while to get onto Nutmeg’s wavelength, so this was a slow but steady solve, but ultimately very satisfying. ACROSS 9 LAGER LOUT … Read more >>
Brendan provides the midweek challenge in a clever puzzle with a theme that, especially with time on one’s hands, is not hard to spot. Too much cross-referencing in clues can be irritating but … Read more >>
A tricky set of clues after what felt like a very quick start. I particularly liked the four outer clues, as well as 5dn, 17dn, and 19dn. Thanks to Imogen. Getting ELBOW ROOM, … Read more >>