Independent 7016/Mass (Prize puzzle 11-04-09)
A chess inspired puzzle from Mass, where every clue makes reference to the game and/or some its famous players. Like all puzzles from this setter I found this pretty tough but got there … Read more >>
Inquisitor 119 – Offcut by Hypnos
This started as a placeholder post. This was a pretty straightforward puzzle – I managed to see through the trick of making the source of the quote much longer than the quote itself, … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 857 – Exactly by Lato
The preamble indicated that ten clues had an extra word each of which defined ten otherwise unclued entries. A further unclued entry (of three words) was said to explain ‘exactly’ where these entries … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,052/Aardvark
I found a few of the clues in this either flirted with verbosity and/or led to quite clunky wordplay. By way of redemption, we do have a couple of laudable clues (e.g. 12 … Read more >>
Independent 7020 by Merlin
A puzzle in the quirky and individual Merlin style. Some gems. I found it ranged from very easy indeed to extremely difficult, with the SW corner taking me much longer than the rest … Read more >>
Guardian 24,675/Brendan – Make a note of this
A typically clever Brendan puzzle where every clue contains (in fact ends with – thanks Colin) the word “note”, used in various senses. With almost no obscure words or references (I’d vaguely heard … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday by Quixote (12 Apr 2009)
Solving time, 19 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 DA (GO) B A (a bad)< A type of Buddhist shrine found in Sri Lanka 4 OBJECT ED 9 RE MARKS … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,044 – Dante
Monday Prize Crossword on 6 April 2009 dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,043 by Cinephile (meaty but puzzling)
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of April 3 Usually I find Cinephile’s strongly themed puzzles to be fairly easy; this one was more challenging for me than most. Took me a while … Read more >>
Sloggers and Betters 5
At long last, our 5th social gathering for the writers and fans of this blog and the puzzles behind it. Well actually “these blogs” – it’s equally open to folk from fifteensquared, Big … Read more >>
Guardian 24,674 – Araucaria
It’s fun to tackle Araucaria on a wednesday, he’s a bit less vicious but still as inventive as ever. I particularly enjoyed the pair of tricky anagrams in 5ac/7dn, the triply-defined 11ac, and … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,051 / Cinephile
A themed Cinephile for our entertainment today in which we were told that BP had the same meaning throughout. Once the theme had been determined (in my case from solving 7,8) the remaining … Read more >>
Independent 7,019 by Dac
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Wednesdays have become distinctly tougher this year. Several unfamiliar terms and some challenging clueing meant that this one really put up a fight. I’m not … Read more >>
Independent 7,018/Nimrod
Slightly unexpected to see Nimrod on a Tuesday – I was hoping for something a little easier on the first day back after a long weekend! I struggled with the corners on this … Read more >>
Guardian 24,673 – Brummie, A Hairy Proposition
dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram What a hairy puzzle and ever so … Read more >>