Smooth sailing today.
Inquisitor 1347: Soprano by Pointer
This was the first offering from Pointer, and a very nice puzzle it was too. The preamble was pretty complex: The completed grid relates to a scene of a drama first produced on … Read more >>
Guardian 26,348 / Brummie
A common theme in preambles to blogs of Brummie puzzles is that they turned out to be less difficult than they first appeared and I could say this yet again. I think the … Read more >>
Independent 8,694 / Scorpion
It has fallen to Scorpion to put us through our cruciverbal paces today. I had to chip away at this one, gradually working my way through the clues, rather than solving them in … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,276
This all seemed fairly straightforward for the most part, with Chambers just required to wrap up a few loose ends. The bit where I am stumped is 25 down. The initial letter is … Read more >>
HTML Tags in Comments
The issue that was causing problems when using HTML tags in comments has now been resolved so please ignore my original post (see below) and continue to use them if/when required. ************* Original … Read more >>
Independent 8693 by Commoner
*=anagram [] = removed e.g. char[m]=char ()=abbreviation e.g. A(mpere)=a Hom. = homophone I’ve not come across Commoner much, although the name sounds familiar (maybe I’m confusing it with Everyman). This was a mostly … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 771 Moley
(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.) A fairly easy Quiptic. Thanks to … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 771 with Picture Quiz
(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) A fairly easy Quiptic. Thanks to Moley. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across … Read more >>
Guardian 26,347 by Rufus
Plenty of double and cryptic defs as usual from Rufus. My favourites were 10ac, 2dn, 17dn and 20dn.
Azed 2202 – ‘A Summer Serenade’ (DLM)
I’ve never been a great fan of DLM (definition and letter-mixture) puzzles: I tend to find them very hard to get started on, but once even a couple of answers are in it … Read more >>
Everyman 3,541
The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3541.
Independent on Sunday 1278/Raich
Always a pleasure to get a Raich puzzle to solve and blog. Only a couple that held me up here, and those were down to my muppetry rather than the quality of the … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 1134 Darkness by Oxymoron
A treat for me this week Oxymoron – a favourite compiler of mine for many a year. Always a challenge but always fair. 28 clues need 2 or 3 letters to be removed … Read more >>
Guardian Prize 26,340 / Picaroon
Now this, from one of my favourite setters, is what I call a Prize puzzle – and I’m not talking about the much-disputed difficulty level. For me, there’s a ‘special’ feel about this: … Read more >>