Never knowingly undersolved
Some very clever misdirection and puns in this puzzle. Solving time, 23 mins * = anagram ACROSS 10 C(h)OPPER Busy = slang for policeman 12 f(ACTOR)y Workplace “not taking sides” 14 PHILATELISTS late … Read more >>
Solving time: 34 minutes Life is full of worries and paradoxes. Mrs Dale (for those of us of an age) always worried about Jim. Me? I worry about Simon McStraphanger. Who he, I … Read more >>
Solving time: 13:59, with one careless mistake (22dn) plus another I’m not sure of (1d). Some very clever clues today with largely convincing surfaces, and just a couple of Guardianisms (25ac, 7d), by … Read more >>
Solving time : 20 minutes A good quality puzzle, as usual, from Dac. The puzzle had what felt like a preponderance of proper names in the answers, the wordplay and a few clues: … Read more >>
Solving time: 20 mins (1 missing) I found the bottom left half harder than the top right, but had almost finished after 10 mins. I then spent another 10 trying unsuccessfully to make … Read more >>
Around 20 minutes. A fairly straightforward puzzle for me with a few long anagrams providing a good start and very fair clues. Across 1 SINGLE FIGURES — This got me for a while … Read more >>
I pencilled BURDEN in over-confidently for 8 Across. This delayed me. Solved in just under 20 mins, a bit slower than usual for Virgilius, where a theme usually becomes clear to help the … Read more >>
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a compiler appear so soon after their previous appearance (we saw Phi just last Friday). Not that I’m complaining. I’ll add my name to list of Phi’s … Read more >>
Solving time: 20’ I stared at this puzzle for a few minutes, scanning clues, until one of the long ones clicked: ALL OVER THE PLACE. From that point on things went rather more … Read more >>
Solving time 1:03:33. A rare thematic puzzle from Azed this week to mark puzzle no. 1800. There’s an extra letter in every clue which has to be removed before solving. These letters in … Read more >>
I wasn’t paying attention and that’s what I filled in at 11A instead of ATTENTIVE which made the NE corner a spot of bother. Nice puzzle with good balance of clue types. If … Read more >>
Typically Araucarian puzzle with a theme of coloured butterflys. There was a nice bit of deception in the note above the puzzle which said that the four undefined clues “were connected with a … Read more >>
This puzzle was deliberately scheduled to appear on the 25th and it became apparent why as the grid was filled in. Unchecked letters at the top and bottom and left and right read … Read more >>
All but two solved in 11 mins, 14 mins for those two making 25 mins in all. 7 across and 2 down which intersected – covered in notes below. As always with Quixote, all … Read more >>
This has all I’ve learnt to expect from a Phi puzzle. Perfectly worded clues, credible surface readings, variety, and a satisfied solver at the end. I solved it in 15 mins. * = … Read more >>