Never knowingly undersolved
A tricky challenge from Monk that took me a little while to solve. The clues were fair and the surfaces were excellent, but some of the answers or definitions were fairly obscure – … Read more >>
This one took me far longer than it should have done! Having fairly confidently put in ‘garnet’ for 36a (though not too happy about cage=net), I had the grid complete, including nine clashes, … Read more >>
An Araucaria-style alphabetical jigsaw with a serious twist! No clue numbers, but the normal clues were presented in alphabetical order of their solutions and answers were to be fitted in where they would … Read more >>
Other than a couple of (literally) lavatorial answers at 1A and 18, I can find little comment-worthy stuff in this puzzle. In the double-edged words of an erstwhile history teacher of mine, “It’s … Read more >>
An excellent puzzle from Nestor who I had the pleasure of meeting at Sloggers and Betters 5 in London last week. A bit easier than I expected – in particular I got some … Read more >>
A nice straightforward puzzle today, perhaps a bit more straightforward than most Thursdays. Quite a lot of anagram and straightforward charades. * = anagram “” = homophone < = reversed d.d. = double … Read more >>
Solving time, 19 mins. The usual pleasing puzzle. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 6 Margaret (D)RABBLE D = daughter 8 N A (S)T IVES 9 ST RAPPER 11 NA (RK) ED … Read more >>
Monday Prize Crossword on 18 May 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 17 May Cinephile gives us one of his typical themed puzzles, this one touching on the works of George Eliot. Across 1. MY FATHER – FA[cts] … Read more >>
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. A very enjoyable arts/literature themed one from Dac, with the usual rock-solid clueing and some chuckles along the way – 1 ac was a gem. … Read more >>
A great one from Paul with a theme of drinks, mostly but not all alcoholic. Nothing too difficult in retrospect, but some of the double definitions took a while to work out until … Read more >>
It is not often that I would describe a Cinephile puzzle as pedestrian but I’m afraid this one did nothing for me, possibly because the surface of some of the clues made little, … Read more >>
There were plenty of clues to like in this puzzle. A nice job by Crux. Across 1 VIRGINIA CREEPER *(RECEIVING REPAIR) A great example of anagram fodder that fits nicely into the surface … Read more >>
Thankfully not too tricky for the first day back after a long weekend, but a very enjoyable puzzle with an impressive number of “Q”s Across 1 QUACK QUACK – QUACK x 2, ref. … Read more >>
I’m really getting to like Gordius! In the past, I have found him rather lacking in [my sort of] humour but I thought there were some really witty clues here and I enjoyed … Read more >>