Never knowingly undersolved
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism A solid rather than spectacular puzzle which I finished fairly quickly, although there were a couple that lost me completely and some others I … Read more >>
I found this more straightforward than last week’s Rufus but, I thought, rather lacking in the expected sparkle. There are the usual fine surfaces but some rather tired wordplay, including AD = notice … Read more >>
I didn’t know much about Sir Thomas More’s Utopia beyond its fame, but after finding a link for 21D and reading around I realise what a big deal this was. Utopia from the … Read more >>
Nick: Fairly difficult AZED this week, due to a competition puzzle, I suppose, but great to solve. 30ac and 12dn seemed to be very convolute to work out, with 30ac being the ‘gotcha’ … Read more >>
I generally find Everyman puzzles to be on the easy side and this was no exception, though it did provide a gentle warm up in preparation for the Azed and EV. So far … Read more >>
Solving time: 65 mins, 4 missing (DUNCIAD, CINERARIA, LEDUM, JONQUIL) This was hard, and time constraints forced me to give up with four gaps although for a long time I thought it would … Read more >>
I am most grateful to Warbler for this delightfully appropriate EV for my debut blog. Not only did it use two of my favourite mechanisms – corrected letters to spell out a message … Read more >>
One of those grids that tells you there must be a theme – more black squares round the edge than usual, and a pair of black zigzags in the middle. It took a … Read more >>
A wide spread of domains covered today – books, film, food, places, famous people. Harder than Falcon’s usual; fine clueing as always. Across 1 BRUTUS BRUT (very dry, used of wine) US. The … Read more >>
A typically pleasant Phi offering. Rather a strange grid, which suggests to me that there is some Nina. But as usual I’m asking for help. Actually Phi may just be saving himself work. … Read more >>
It’s been a good while since I last tackled an Audreus. Sped through without too much difficulty. Edits thanks to Brian and Gaufrid Across 8 DINOSAUR (around is)* 9 OPENER double def: “First … Read more >>
Not a particularly tricky (or satisfying) puzzle today. My main gripe being the inundation of mundane [Word A] + [Word B] = [Answer] constructions. I can’t recall ever seeing another puzzle that contained … Read more >>
Obvious from looking at the clues that this was a golf-based puzzle, timed to coincide with the start of the US Masters. Made a lot of quick early progress but then it got … Read more >>
Annoyingly, I had to write this post without any internet access or reference books, so there are lots of guesses here that normally I would be able to quickly confirm. I may not … Read more >>
This was much more straightforward than last week and included one mention of the date (Easter Sunday). The grid suggested the possibility of a perimeter nina, but we couldn’t find anything. Perhaps rereading … Read more >>