Never knowingly undersolved
So we have a preamble, as was to be expected, and one with no apparent ambiguities: “Fourteen solutions need to be partially amended before entry into the grid in a consistent manner by … Read more >>
I think this is the fourth Puck Genius that I have blogged, from Genius 136 way back in Nov 2014, through 160 and 190, approximately every two-and-a-bit years. Always a pleasure to ‘shake hands with an old face’, as my grandfather used to say!
Qaos provides the March Genius challenge The preamble told us that the letters in 16 squares are not allowed for in the wordplay of the clues involved. Taken as a … Read more >>
A new setter, or at least a new pseudonym, for the Genius slot: perhaps a John le Carré fan? The rather strangely-worded instructions tell us that “Fourteen clues contain no definition of their … Read more >>
This is the second Genius puzzle by Chameleon (his first was No 202, back in April last year). The special instructions said: “In six clues their wordplay element contains surplus letters, to be … Read more >>
Well, this was a real Genius puzzle. We knew we were in for a serious challenge this month when we read (or tried to read) the preamble: Tjyuffo tpmvujpot nvtu cf fodjqifsfe cfgpsf … Read more >>
This month we have another of Paul’s whimsical puzzles with which to do battle. Having read the preamble regarding possible book titles and authors, my first step was to highlight the clue numbers … Read more >>
A ‘jigsaw’ puzzle from Kite this month – with the pieces all needing a bit of additional work before entry…
Pasquale has set the September Genius There was a fairly short preamble that told us: Wordplay in nine of the across clues and all the down clues omits one or … Read more >>
The instruction “the wordplay in each clue leads to a solution where two letters require an elementary substitution before entry in the grid” may have been intended as cryptic , but I guessed … Read more >>
A puzzle by Enigmatist is always a challenge, but this wasn’t as hard as some recent Geniuses. The instructions read as follows: “Thirteen clues consist of wordplay alone and share the same missing … Read more >>
Soup provides this month’s challenge for the old grey matter The preamble reads: Definitions in all clues are normal, but you must count on a knowledge of French and German (as well as … Read more >>
It’s the first Monday in May and up comes a most enjoyable tussle with Vlad. We were told that: Twelve thematic solutions are to be entered in the grid incompletely. Their clues contain … Read more >>
A commenter on the blog for Genius 201 revealed that they had test-solved this puzzle, and we were in for ‘an absolute corker‘. Time will tell!
The March Genius is one of the hardest puzzles I have encountered in this series of puzzles. The changes used to get from defined answers to treated answers were more … Read more >>