Never knowingly undersolved
This puzzle made a nice coincidental side dish for Stephen Fry’s excellent program (3 days to watch as I write this, if you missed it) on Wagner. Klingsor is an evil magician in … Read more >>
Blimmin’ ‘eck this were tough. We limped to just short of the finishing line, failing to get 12 across and 11 down – comments welcome as ever. Didn’t enjoy this as much as … Read more >>
It’s always a pleasure to do a post here about one of Paul’s puzzles. Some excellent clues here, my favourites are hopefully obvious from the post below. I didn’t find this too difficult … Read more >>
There seemed to be an abundance of straightforward yet original devices in this puzzle, which is not always an easy combination of traits to achieve. The SW corner proved by far the trickiest … Read more >>
Monday Prize Crossword on 24 May 2010 A week-opener with some obscure and unusual terms and names but otherwise quite easily solved. ACROSS 1 STAFFA Cha of Staff (pole or rod) + A … Read more >>
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of May 22 Another impeccable beauty from Cincinnus and one that I found a little more difficult than usual. My favourite clues are 9A (REDSHANKS), 28A (ASTIR), … Read more >>
I found this one really quite challenging for a Wednesday, but there were some very good clues in there, and some impressive anagrams. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Across 1 … Read more >>
A very quick solve for me today, and probably also for most others. A couple of answers (27ac & 8dn) may have been unfamiliar to some but the wordplay was glaringly obvious in most … Read more >>
It’s only three weeks since the last Arachne puzzle and, according to Andrew’s review of the year, we had only seven of hers in 2009, so this is a welcome early return. There’s … Read more >>
My fastest Inquisitor ever. About an hour to solve all the clues. Quick shufti in Google to find the quotation attribution. Short pause to mow the lawn, then search for “directions”. Find them, … Read more >>
Don Manley has posted on the Crossword Centre forum the sad news that Rover has died. His full text can be seen here.
A typically brilliant puzzle from the master of the themed daily, cleverly using the idea of multiple word ‘see x‘ grid entries as the basis for some diocesan double definition deception. This exposed … Read more >>
A tough week, I found. I’m still a little 34ac with regard to explanations for 22ac. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Across 1 TASK – T AS K. Clever one, … Read more >>
Quite straightforward today, nothing obscure or contentious and decent surfaces in the main. Across 1 INVOCATION IN (trendy) VOCATION (career) 7 DHOW D (departs) HOW (in what manner) 9 ISIS [cr]ISIS (trouble loses … Read more >>
Brummie presented yet another very Ximenean puzzle which is not as difficult as one under his other alter ego in the Private Eye. Shorn of risque references, it is not quite as entertaining … Read more >>