Never knowingly undersolved
Because I have some trouble using the “less than” sign to indicate reversals in these blogs I noticed that unusually there were no reversals in this crossword. No totally straight Cryptic Defs either. … Read more >>
Solving time: 21:45, one missing (17ac) Across clues had wordplay leading to the defined answer minus a coin. The (normal) down clues weren’t too bad though so this wasn’t much more difficult than … Read more >>
I found this unusually difficult for Phi, but perhaps that’s just because of my own incompetence. Certainly several clues that eluded me at first were simple enough when the answer eventually came. No … Read more >>
A very good (and tough in places) puzzle with an unusual theme: the top and bottom rows read OUR COUNTRY WEE ONE ENGLAND NIL. See 21a for a full explanation as to what … Read more >>
Good Crossword by Loda! Ten countries with new names had to be written as their old names in the grid, and ten old names had to be substituted for their new names before the clues … Read more >>
I always feel more intelligent after solving a Brendan puzzle — I think it’s because he is fair, challenging and there’s a clever nina or theme which is always gratifying to identify. Anyway, … Read more >>
Apologies for lateness – wrote a whole entry this morning and lost it. Baaad IT bloke – didn’t save my work as I went along. In the end – really quite a straight … Read more >>
This is the first puzzle I’ve solved in what has so far been a pretty miserable week, with myself and MrsD both laid low with a virus and our 8 month old son … Read more >>
I found this quite an easy puzzle – solving time 15 mins but there’s one I do not understand. Notes on some clues below, including that one. Happy to explain others if asked … Read more >>
This puzzle is the most difficult Cincinnus I can remember tackling, not hard across the board but very challenging in a few places. Did others find it unusually tough as well? Across 1. … Read more >>
Even though the “theme” is pretty obvious, on immediate inspection of the clues, the category itself (boys’ names) is pretty expansive. So it still took me a few minutes to figure out the last couple … Read more >>
A pleasing puzzle by Dac. Solving time: 18 mins * = (anagram)* < = reversed ACROSS 1 DEF (l = L) ECT Excellent misleading surface 11 RO (A) ST (i) … Read more >>
A pretty tough one this, took a good half hour and left me in doubt about the wordplay of two clues, including the main theme-word. But I think I’m there now. I thought … Read more >>
Another highly thematic puzzle from Virgilius. In this case all the down answers can be seen as dangerous women. Corrections and clarifications are in italics. Across 9 AZORES — “as oars” 14 ENAMEL … Read more >>
Solving time: 12 minutes. Solving a Chifonie puzzle often seems to me like a labour of love. Nice when you finish, but you don’t get the feeling of accomplishment that you do with … Read more >>