Never knowingly undersolved
I like Orlando’s clean and precise cluing style — in this case, several instances of cheeky definitions probably deserving of a questionable indicator and more than one of working the answer out from … Read more >>
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed I was too stingy to buy the paper this morning, but I had a quick glance at the newsagents to find out who the compiler was. I believe it was … Read more >>
Apologies, but I have to rush off now, so just a quick post today. Nothing too difficult from Rufus, but still a few neat clues in here. Across 1 COURTING DISASTER 10 EX,ONE,RATE … Read more >>
Solving time: longer than I care to admit, but see 16 across. I completed about three quarters of the puzzle in an hour, but the northeast quadrant proved to be stubborn. This is … Read more >>
Solving time: 28:00, over half of which on 1dn, 10ac and 15ac. I had a good start on this, stalled a little in the middle until I untangled BODICE RIPPER at 22/21dn, and … Read more >>
Ran into a brick wall about halfway through this one and then spotted the Nina (referenced in 9), which got things moving again. Still don’t understand a few things here and there though. … Read more >>
I struggled to get going with this, only solving one of the Across clues on my first pass. A few nice, long cryptic definitions eventually got the ball rolling and everything else then … Read more >>
Not too troublesome today – one or two pleasing clues with a few rather obvious ones. ACROSS 1. TAFFRAIL – <fat-frail (upper part of the stern of a ship) 5. STASIS – dd. … Read more >>
Across 1 DECIDED: CID in DEED 5 DELIBES: DLIBErateS without rate. Refers to Leo Delibes the French romantic composer 10 NEWCASTLE: anagram of LEWES CANT 11 OFF WITH HIS HEAD: from Lewis Carroll’s … Read more >>
A nice twist in a crossword with conventional clues (no misprints, extra words etc. to muddy the waters). The puzzle was made more difficult by the fact that I found the clues in … Read more >>
My chronic lack of geographical knowledge slowed me down quite a bit in this puzzle with lots of varied and often rather clever uses of “capital”, both in definitions and wordplay. On reflection, … Read more >>
I found this easier than usual for this setter but there are still a few bits and pieces that I don’t understand. Across 1 (STOUT MUSCULAR)* – interestingly, this could have been CUMULOSTRATUS … Read more >>
Solving time, 22 mins. * = anagram < = reversal ACROSS 5 A WARD’S Maybe not exclusively an urban district, but usually so. 7 SLE EVE (eve Els)< If golfer Ernie Els could … Read more >>
Just a reminder about the common abbreviations that I use *() = anagram (fodder) cd = cryptic definition dd = double definition ha = hidden answer ins = insertion cha = charade Two … Read more >>
This is another easily solved prize puzzle (from Monday 19 May 2008) with many anagram clues and cryptic definitions ala Dante. I suppose it is a less stressful way to begin a week … Read more >>