FT 12,810/ Phssthpok
A rare visit to the FT from the intriguingly-named Phssthpok. A well-balanced offering with some nice touches and a gentle smattering of intra-grid cross references. Feels like just the kind of puzzle that … Read more >>
Independent 6775/Nimrod
A bit of a mixed bag this: very tough in places, very easy elsewhere. Still don’t understand 10, 11 and 19 though. Across 1 ERA,SPOT< in TRICES – TRICERATOPSES. I found this very … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 959 by Quixote (29 June 2008)
I found this quite easy, solving time 14 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 8 AT HEIST 9 EP I ZO (Oz<) A Oz = country down under (Australia) 10 OILC … Read more >>
Guardian 24,431/Chifonie
Today it was the bottom right-hand corner that gave me the most trouble, but apart from that I found this one mostly quite easy. A couple of explanations I’m not totally happy with … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,800 by Mudd
The top right corner of this puzzle was hard going for me. I particularly found 11A, 13A and 5D challenging and I do not understand how 8D works. Then I was totally stumped … Read more >>
FT No. 12,809 set by AARDVARK
I found this puzzle quite tricky, and a complete contrast from yesterday’s yawn. There were a good number of colloquialisms, but some clever twists and one or two clues which defeated me, q.v … Read more >>
Independent 6774 by Dac
The usual, excellent, well-crafted, puzzle from Dac with good variety of treatments. Solving time, fast for me, 17 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 SLIGHT Double definition 5 S (EAR) … Read more >>
Guardian 24,430/Orlando
Mostly fairly straightforward, with a lot of anagrams, but the top left-hand corner had me stumped for a while. I particularly liked 2dn for its brilliant misdirection. … Read more >>
Independent 6,773/Virgilius
A nice games-themed puzzle today. A number of references in clues and I spotted at least ten in answers scattered throughout the grid. Across 1 BOWLS – B,OWLS 4 TIC TAC TOE – … Read more >>
Guardian 24,429, Paul: On Clitheroe Moorage baht (brass) hat
I guess when you’ve been setting for a while, you can either spice things up for self and solvers with esoteric themes, or you can cast ever wider into the available word-pool. Paul’s … Read more >>
Financial Times 12808 / Highlander
A puzzle where no clue poses any especial difficulty. I solved 21dn first even as my eye took it in. I got 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 17 and 24 in the Down … Read more >>
Independent 6772 by Eimi
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed Eimi crosswords tend to send me scurrying for the reference books and there were quite a few words in this that were new to me (13 across being particularly obscure, … Read more >>
Independent 6765/Tees (21-06-08)
Apologies – I wrote this up last week and then forgot to publish it. Across 9 (CULT AWARE)* – CATERWAUL. I liked “heated call” as the definition. 11 (ON ISLAM)* – OSMANLI 12/15 … Read more >>
Guardian 24428/Rufus
Pretty good offering from Rufus: quite a few clues with a surprising twist in the surface. And not a cryptic definition in sight (OK, not many). Across 1 LUCIFER – two meanings: a … Read more >>
Azed 1,882 “Cherchez la Femme” – Tough search
This was probably Azed at his toughest and I am grateful to Peter B and the Cryptonuts for helping fill-in my gaps. First things first. As with all out-of-the ordinary puzzles, read and … Read more >>