Never knowingly undersolved
Solving time: 14:58 Another well-constructed alphabetical jigsaw from Araucaria. When I solved his last one I decided afterwards that I should have tried to fit answers into the grid more quickly, so I … Read more >>
I don’t normally blog the FT but as it was the only free newspaper with a decent crossword available on the Heathrow to Newcastle flight yesterday I gave it a go. At the … Read more >>
A good, challenging and satisfying puzzle which like most from Bradman is a little on the tough side for a daily FTer. Challenging enough in fact that I have yet to complete the … Read more >>
Not having been lucky enough to get a crossword to solve for a while I was slightly disappointed that this one was so undemanding. I got through it in under 8 minutes. Still … Read more >>
Nice puzzle from The Editor with a theme that revealed itself in two parts for me: first, cities then Italian cities. Plaudits for getting so many in, especially when so many of them … Read more >>
I know next to nothing about horse-racing so once I’d twigged the theme I had to use Google to check a couple of answers that I got from the wordplay (1a and 28a). There are … Read more >>
A very enjoyable puzzle from a very reliable setter. It might be my imagination but there seemed to be a few more obscure words than there usually are in Beelzebub puzzles but I … Read more >>
The preamble stated that ‘before solving, one letter must be changed in the definition part of 25 clues, the new letters all being different. The missing 26th letter is to be revealed as … Read more >>
An excellent puzzle, as usual, from this top setter. Solving time: 19 mins * = anagram < = reverse ACROSS 4 H AND M (Clothes shop) AID 11 A LEX (Luthor – Superman’s … Read more >>
A St Andrew’s Day theme in the appropriate week. One or two tricky clues, but I found it fairly easy overall. Solving time: 16 mins. Notes on some clues below – happy to … Read more >>
Another lovely puzzle from Cincinnus. I particularly like 13A, 19A, 25A and 5D. I found 26A and 20D hard. Across 1, 28. MAKING TRACKS – double definition 4. THE CHAMP – THE (article) … Read more >>
Across 4 SCHNAPPS – cleverly done. A drunkard might pronounce “snaps” (pictures = shots) as SCHNAPPS. The literal reading works too. 10 D in LANG,RAVE – this was new to me but fairly … Read more >>
A good puzzle to learn a few new words via clear wordplay (e.g. SATINY, ASGARD, COLUMBA). One unusual river (AMUR) and an unfamiliar actress (ANNA NEAGLE) and a couple of other more familiar … Read more >>
Just when you thought that the FT blogs had become extinct…. Apologies for going AWOL last week, when short-notice travel plans scuppered my schedule again. Incidentally, the FT puzzles seem to have become … Read more >>
Apologies if you checked in earlier – a work crisis of Biblical proportions had wiped out my leisure time and my solution was sparse. Across 12 KENTISH = (THESKIN)* 16 A-TT-OR-NEY GENERAL – … Read more >>