Beelzebub 1,310

Perhaps it was just circumstances, but I found this to be a very challenging puzzle. Of course, that isn’t a complaint, it just means you lot have had to wait a bit longer … Read more >>

Independent 1,312 by Hypnos

Super puzzle.  Hypnos manages to produce a straightforward puzzle (which seems to be the remit for the Sunday slot) that is also interesting and fun to solve all the way through.  Thanks Hypnos.

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Everyman 3575/12 April

Everyman was my route into solving cryptics, so I always get pleasure from blogging his puzzles in an attempt to help new and improving solvers.  I think I have pinned everything down here, … Read more >>

Financial Times 14,907 by MUDD

Traveling on work and a full day meant I got to this Mudd challenge a lot later than I would have liked to – so apologies for the late post. I found this to be a tough challenge to begin with but gradually picked up steam along the way. Outclassed on a few clues that required googling to confirm or supplement the parsings. Some deviousness exhibited by Mudd – enough to leave me seeking a helping hand on the deconstruction for a couple as well.

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Guardian 26,548 / Qaos

I had decided to have a go at doing my own blog today [renewed thanks to Gaufrid for last week] – broken wrist notwithstanding [it was with falling over, actually 😉 ] knowing … Read more >>

Independent 8,894 / Phi

Independent 8,894 / Phi Phi’s latest offering awaited solvers this Friday morning, as one might have expected. I thought that this was a medium difficulty Phi puzzle, far from a walk in the … Read more >>

Financial Times 14,906 by SLEUTH

An enjoyable crossword, so first, thanks to Sleuth. We had almost finished doing the blog when there was a power cut and we feared we’d have to re-enter the lot. We should have known better. Our thanks to PeeDee for yet another great feature of the utility.

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Financial Times 14,897 – Dante

Monday Prize Crossword / Apr 6, 2015

Just as I thought the FT doesn’t see daylight on Easter Monday, there was a Monday Prize Crossword which only appeared at the very end of the day on the newspaper’s website. I don’t like stereotyping but this Dante puzzle was indeed full of cryptic and double definitions – no less than 8 of the latter!

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