Never knowingly undersolved
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Across 1 COCKTAIL BARS – COCK + (BAR in TAILS). 9 ASCENDANCE – DANC[e] in A SCENE. 11 PEN PAL – PEAL “involving” (N + … Read more >>
I have been informed that, due to the postal strike, the closing date for most Indy prize puzzles is going to be extended by a week as from this weekend. Consequently the publication … Read more >>
Solving time: 11½ mins, one mistake (15dn: ‘sagebrass’ for SAGEBRUSH) Paul had a puzzle on Wednesday (21st) which I found very difficult. This felt slightly easier, certainly to get going with, but was … Read more >>
The subsidiary indication in each clue leads to an extra letter. These letters indicate the source of two questions (the second of which WAS rhetorical) and reveal a recent and unresolved problem (from … Read more >>
By the time you read this I’ll be on holiday, so I won’t be able to respond to any questions myself. I finished this in 8:36 so found it fairly easy for a … Read more >>
Quite tricky for a Phi puzzle, enjoyable as always, solving time, 30 mins * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 (p) ASSES 4 A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME Anthony Powell’s … Read more >>
Many witty clues with nice surfaces today. I found this pleasant and not too tough. Favourites: APPENDIX, ACACIA. Across 1 CUT A DASH CUT (canal, as a verb in the wordplay) + D … Read more >>
Fairly straightforward for a Friday. Across clue no. here comment here 1 PAGEANT: AGE in PANT (huff and puff) 5 PLONKER: PLONK (wine) + ER (half of beER) 9 ROOST: ROO (Australian animal) … Read more >>
It was quite difficult to make progress at first, but the “extra letters in wordplay” phrase started to emerge from CIANS suggesting “politicians”, and QUISLING as a possible unclued answer. Looking up “politicians” … Read more >>
Well I never, a Nimrod that I could actually solve! And very good it was too. There are a couple of references in 10 and 12ac that I couldn't quite explain, but no … Read more >>
We got through this very fast indeed – I don’t think there’s much that should have caused problems. The surface readings are very nice throughout. Across 8. ACHILLES CHILL in SEA = “tide” … Read more >>
Much like yesterday, a mish-mash of the hackneyed and the hand-crafted. There seemed to be a plethora of “remove a letter” devices today (e.g. 15A, 24A, 28A, 3D, 22D, 25D). Across 1 OVERWROUGHT … Read more >>
Like last week, I found this harder than usual from Quixote, not that the clues were more difficult but some of the words were less familiar. Enjoyable solve as always, solving time, 30 … Read more >>
Monday Prize Crossword on 12 October 2009 dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram … Read more >>
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 10 Cincinnus keeps coming with great clues; witness 1A, 9A, 13A, 2D and 6D. But there is one clue, 11D, whose wordplay I do not … Read more >>