Financial Times 13,623 / Mudd
Financial Times Prize Puzzle of 21 February A typically creative and clever puzzle from Mudd. I liked the way the surface sense of the words making up the wordplay fit in with the … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,622 by Cincinnus
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of February 19 Cincinnus spoils us with two of his typically wondrous anagrams this time, 21A (TURNSTONES) and 3D (SAN MARINO). I also applaud 8A (REMAINS), 11A … Read more >>
Independent 7,605/Dac
Wednesday = Dac = it’s all good. Some tricksy Down clues in this one I thought, but everything perfectly justifiable and well put together as ever. Across 1 SLIP-UP – PUPILS rev. 5 … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,631 by Gozo
Gozo again proves himself to be a master of the grid, all the across solutions are Shakespeare characters, and they combine to make some great anagrams. Unfortunately, inventive as the format is, the crossword … Read more >>
Guardian 25,259 – Chifonie
Typical Chifonie fare here: pleasant enough, and soundly clued, but not much of a challenge, with lots of very obvious clues that wouldn’t be out of place in the Quiptic, and a preponderance … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1165: A Favourite Poem by Phi
The preamble stated that the puzzle is based on of Phi’s favourite poems. The poem features a recurrent phrase, which explains the entry of one normally clued answser. The phrase is connected in … Read more >>
Independent 7604/Raich
A very pleasant crossword from Raich today. It took a while to get started because of all those clues that refer to some other clue, and none of the Across clues fell at … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,630 / Neo
A delight from Neo. What impressed me today was how Neo managed to devise such misleading wordplay and fit it so neatly into the surface reading of the clue. Across 1 ALHAMBRA H[earts] … Read more >>
Guardian 25258 Crucible – Bravo! Maestro
What a tour de force by Crucible. I was thoroughly tested by several ingenious cryptic devices composed around the Musical Greats. Alas, not only did I have to solve them, but also to … Read more >>
Independent 7603 by Radian
Tough puzzle today from Radian, solving time 48 mins. All over the clues the phrase “1 of 20” appeared. Thought that when I cracked 20 after about 10 minutes, the rest of the … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic No 589 by Orlando
Together with the Rufus, we have a veritable blizzard of double definitions today. Across 1. Where Marco Polo went in a yacht, wandering (6) CATHAY Anagram (‘wandering’) of ‘a yacht’. Cathay is an … Read more >>
Guardian 25,257 by Rufus
Nothing very demanding – notably heavy on double definitions, and only a hint of a cryptic definition. Across 1. Influences or distorts the standard (7) COLOURS Triple definition. 5. Makes an entry, a … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 437 – Chirrupy Corgi
I had trouble getting going with this puzzle. I read loads of clues before finally cold solving one with a definite answer at 6D, and then only had about a dozen answers in … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1096
Some rare gems are revealed in the answers of this week’s puzzle ( )* = anagram [ ] = omitted < = reversed Across 1 It’s mostly separate, and also … Read more >>
Azed 2021 plain
I found this very hard, partly because I had never heard of either of the two 13 letter anagrams at 15 and 29 across. There were several other obscure words and I will … Read more >>