Guardian 24,623/Paul
Not, as I’d expected, a St Valentine’s Day special, but a theme based on famous Belgians, of whom there are supposedly very few, though for its size Belgium in fact does pretty well. … Read more >>
Inquisitor 111 – Piano Practice by Nutmeg
In each row’s pair of answers, one letter moved from one clue to the other, the moving letters giving two words, thematically described by 4 down. There were four unclued downs also matching … Read more >>
Independent 6,973/Phi
A tougher Phi than usual, I thought. A nice easy hidden reversal to start, but I struggled with the rest of the across clues on my first run through. The down clues were … Read more >>
Beelzebub 991 (15/02/09)
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. A good tough one this week, offering us plenty of obscure words with which to conjur. Happily, I still managed to get most of this … Read more >>
Guardian 24,628 / Pasquale
What a delight to see Pasquale back – fully recovered, I hope. There are several slightly unusual words but they are scrupulously well-clued and there are some lovely surface readings. A highly enjoyable … Read more >>
Independent 6968/Phi (Prize puzzle 14-02-09)
An excellent themed puzzle for Valentine’s Day where the keyword – HEART – was unclued and appeared, appropriately, in the middle of the grid. Across 8 SA(CRE)D 9 STUN,TM,[-?]AN – not sure what … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 849 Dawn by Oxymoron
Minimal blog crammed in between a busy work week and a holiday. That also means I’ll be unable to comment on comments so mistakes and omissions will go uncorrected. I struggled initially as … Read more >>
FT 13,006/Alberich
As usual, Alberich dishes up a healthy dollop of clues where the surfaces are uncannily natural (14A, 15D and 19D being today’s exemplars). However, overall, I couldn’t help but feel that this pudding … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,005 / Cincinnus
A relatively gentle stroll today but a very pleasant one due to the excellent surface of the clues. I had to smile at some of the clues, for example 14a, 25a and 11d though I did … Read more >>
Independent 6,972 by Tees
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. This was interesting. We haven’t seen a weekday Tees puzzle for some time, and I certainly have never blogged one. I really struggled to get … Read more >>
Guardian 24,627/Paul
As usual, good fun from Paul, with a couple of typically cheeky clues, and not too difficult. One or two minor quibbles, but nothing to complain too much about: in fact there are … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 992 by Quixote (15 Feb 2009)
I found this a little harder than usual, solving time 27 mins. * = anagram ACROSS 5 P(L)EASANT 9 HAM PER 10 MARK ET 11 A NOR (E XI)A 12 HURSTPIERPOINT (support in … Read more >>
FT 12,996 – Dante
Monday Prize Crossword on 9 February 2009 dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,995 by Cincinnus
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of February 7 A typically delicious Cincinnus this time with a few fine clues (20A, 26A, 1D). Across 1. GORE VIDAL – GORE (green campaigner) + anagram … Read more >>
Independent 6971/Dac
As always, a high Dac standard, although today I found more to raise an eyebrow at than usual. Across 1 S(OUR)CREAM 6 P(L)AID 9 LoOkS wEaRy 10 ROOMMATES — OM in (are most)* … Read more >>