Never knowingly undersolved
I seem to have got off lightly after some of the toughies we’ve had on recent Saturdays, which I’ve really struggled with. This, by stark contrast, didn’t put up much of a fight … Read more >>
I consider myself very fortunate in drawing this one, as I blogged the last Brendan. There’s the usual witty and clever cluing and enough cross-reference to add interest, without making it too easy. … Read more >>
We polished this one off in the Bridge in Topsham, with pints of Branoc and hot pasties. What a wonderful afternoon. Found this easier than the previous puzzle, the vocab in this puzzle … Read more >>
An interesting one this, I think – neither too hard nor too easy, though for several the answer came more easily than the explanation. There’s a Nina across the third and antepenultimate rows … Read more >>
Monday Prize Crossword from 22 February 2010 Another smooth offering from the slick Dante. Very suitable for beginners to this delightful pastime of solving cryptic crosswords. ACROSS 1 NUDISM *(undies minus E) + … Read more >>
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of February 20 The top-left corner of this puzzle took me a while. I especially like 21D. Across 1. HECUBA – HE-CUB (young male) + A (a) … Read more >>
It’s been a tough week so far in the Indy, but a good one. Dac’s puzzles are generally on the easier side, but never anything less than brilliant. I found the right hand … Read more >>
The preamble states that five answers have something in common but by my count it could be six. These are: Little Red Riding Hood (2,3dn) and wolf (6dn) Pied Piper (8dn) and rats … Read more >>
I found it very hard to get started on this one, but getting 3dn, swiftly followed by 15dn, and most of the linked answers, filled up a lot of the grid, and the … Read more >>
One could say this was a gift of a puzzle because by and large most answers were easily obtainable, though I have minor reservations about 7, 18, 19 and 23dn. The parsing for 14dn … Read more >>
Tough: I don’t know what I’d have done without the reveal facility on the Independent website. But I’m the one at fault, for, apart from one or two quibbles, the clues were understandable … Read more >>
A delightful potpourri of various cryptic devices to brighten up a Tuesday morning. Not too difficult and quite entertaining, too. ACROSS 1 RUSSIA LEATHER RUSSIA (country) LEA (meadow) THERE minus E ; a … Read more >>
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism Entertaining puzzle by Eimi that mentions a couple of composers, although I don’t know if there is meant to be some hidden theme there. … Read more >>
Many congratulations to Rufus on this his 1,000th puzzle! Across 1 THEBES: almost THE BES(t) 5 SET ASIDE: SEASIDE around T (end of augus(T)) 9 DEMERARA: anagram of RARE and MADE 10 OTTAWA: … Read more >>
Quite an easy outing this time with a few intra-Eye references and pet names, particularly several uses of Brenda for ER, and of course lots of botty humour. Across 1 DISRAELI (DAILIES [labou]R)* … Read more >>