Independent 7662 by Monk (Saturday prize puzzle 7th May 2011)
Full marks to Monk this week – if you get my drift. Well 20 out of 20 anyway. Some highly original touches in the grid this week, which I’ve tried to summarise in … Read more >>
Guardian Prize Puzzle 25,316 by Paul
A pretty straightforward puzzle from Paul this week. I especially liked 6 down, which was a new word to me, and 19 down was a fun clue too. Apologies in advance for any typos, … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 965 – I Cut A Rose by Nutmeg
With the preamble to this EV referring to an assertion by an unclued ‘somebody’ in ‘something’, also unclued, and recommending use of a dictionary of quotations, I don’t think it is giving too much … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,692 / Mudd
A puzzle with many laugh-out-loud moments and not much struggle except with 20D and 22D. 14A, 4D, 7D and 19D were supremely funny. I had a great time solving this. Across 1 ROSE … Read more >>
Independent 7,667/Nimrod – Be afraid…
As soon as Phi appeared yesterday, I guessed that we’d be in for some sort of date-related puzzle today, and this certainly didn’t disappoint. I found this very tough from the start and … Read more >>
Guardian 25,321 – Crucible
An outstandingly entertaining and interesting puzzle by Crucible, celebrating a quatercentenary, to end off an excellent week (I even quite enjoyed the Gordius!). I usually think of Crucible as being at the hard … Read more >>
Guardian No 25,320 by Brendan
An entertaining offering from Brendan. … … … … The appearance of envelopes in almost every clue must be a theme of sorts; then there is the device indicated in 13A, for which … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,691 / Falcon
More of a stroll through the woods than a machete-wielding jungle expedition. But at least we took the scenic route, and it was fun while it lasted. Across 1 EASY MEAT – (May tease)*. … Read more >>
Independent 7666/Phi
Phi seems to crop up all over the place at the moment. There was a time when you could be pretty sure that he would appear on a Friday, but no longer. This … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,682 / Dante
FT Monday Prize Crossword from 2 May 2011 A fairly typical Dante, althoughto me the cd’s were not as clever and surprising as they often are. Across 1 TORE DOWN *(DON WROTE) 5 … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,681 by Cincinnus
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of April 30 Here we have another satisfying, rather easy puzzle from Cincinnus. My clues of the week are 23A (DISROBE), 3D (MANHATTAN) and 22D (NODDY). Across … Read more >>
Independent 7665 by Dac
Dac as we’ve come to know and love. Nothing controversial to my eye, we’d expect nothing less of course from the master of smooth stuff. Less full explanations today than I’ve tried to … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,690 by Monk
A difficult crossword today I thought, but got there in the end. All the clues were fair though, so no excuses on that front. There were a lot of clues with first/last letter devices … Read more >>
Guardian 25,319 / Gordius
A nice puzzle from Gordius – with a few exceptions (noted below), I don’t think this should have created too many problems. Across 1. ORDNANCE SURVEY ORDNANCE = “Artillery” + SURVEY = “inspection”; … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1175 – Left Out by Nimrod
The perimeter is clued thematically while the numbered clues (to the remainder of the grid) have a redundant letter in the wordplay, which spells out a message indicating what to do with the … Read more >>