Never knowingly undersolved
Solving time: 25 mins, two missing (26ac and 8dn). The ‘cloth hats’ referred to in the preamble were all reptiles (REP = ‘cloth’, TILES = ‘hats’), though unless KOMODO DRAGON at 19dn/29ac (my … Read more >>
I was bamboozled by the NW corner and had to resort to an email friend (in this case, PeterB) largely because I fell into the trap of RUMBA for our Cuban dance at … Read more >>
Across 1 hidden reversed in “BritiSH CASt” – Hans SACHS is a character in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg and, I was surprised to discover, an actual real life person. 4 KEW,IS in … Read more >>
Solving time : 22 minutes. This is a fairly quick time for me, which is probably why I quite enjoyed this. I wonder about some of the assessments under the tab “Setters” above. Tees the … Read more >>
Across 8 PEN,PUS,HER – I don’t understand what “Caribbean estate” is and how it links to PEN, if at all. 9 NO,TED – “observed” is the definition, the rest of the clue is … Read more >>
Solving time: 1.5 – 2 hours – Chambers used for 25D only There was early mention of this puzzle on Derek Harrison’s message board, which indicated that one of the green squares was … Read more >>
Was relieved to avoid an overly-taxing puzzle today, as I think recent sleep deprivation is catching up on me. A couple of good though-provoking devices nestled away in here, though. My parsing of … Read more >>
Solving Time: 20 minutes The usual clever puzzle from Nimrod that was ejoyable to solve with some good laugh-out-loud clues. ACROSS (* = ANAG / (cd) = Cryptic definition / (R) = Reversal) … Read more >>
Solving time – about half an hour in two sessions. I started off quite quickly and had half of it done within 5 minutes, but then ground to a halt and had to … Read more >>
I found this easier than usual. Solving time: 14 mins. Notes on some clues below – happy to explain others if asked. * = anagram ACROSS 11 TOAST Double definition 13 APPLE … Read more >>
Cinephile is well on form with this fine themed puzzle. Most of the across clues include “beast” and have answers that start with names of animals. This was an easier theme to work … Read more >>
The report for No. 42 is now complete. And 43 is solved so will be blogged promptly. But loonapick and I would still love to have one or two other Inquisitor solvers to … Read more >>
Usual high quality fare from Dac: excellent surfaces, good clear wordplay, and at least one I have failed to get. Across 1 FLIGHT CREW — F+LIGHT+CREW(e) — “Those serving in air” is an … Read more >>
A typically challenging puzzle from the master himself. There are a few mini-themes such as religion (NUNNERY, WHITED SEPULCHRE, LOURDES, EXCOMMUNICATION), the Crusades (GRAIL, BALDWIN), a couple of medical terms (FEMORAL, LUSTRAL) and … Read more >>
More thematic wizardry from my favourite compiler: spot the colours in 6 across clues. Across 1 BROWN-NOSED – little bit of politics from Virgilius there. 6 PS,ST 10 TOT in LIES – LITOTES … Read more >>