Financial Times 12506/Orense
I found this very straightforward and a quick solve but there were a few nice touches. Just a short review because most of the clues are reasonably self-explanatory but if anyone’s unsure of … Read more >>
Inquisitor 27 – BUST by Lato
I tore this one out of the paper, took it on holiday, and over-confidently left it until the day we were coming home. It turned out to be very tough – if our flight … Read more >>
Financial Times 12499 by FALCON
Across 1. ANTENATAL CLINIC – cryptic def. issue=children 9. TH(e)ROW,IN 10. NUT,CASE 11. ELITE (hidden) 12. DEODORANT (too darned)* – good surface. 13. ETRUSCANS (runes cast)* 15. C,HAIR – ‘Hair’ is a musical … Read more >>
Indendent on Sunday 908 by Quixote – harder than normal
I think Quixote commented on this site some time ago that the aim was to keep the puzzle fairly easy, but that he would put a more difficult one in from time to … Read more >>
Independent 6470/Nestor — some of it’s Greek to me!
A challenging puzzle in parts with some superb charade clues that inventively stitch together the component parts and at the same time have very good surfaces. One word was new to me and … Read more >>
Guardian 24,126 – Brummie (Weird Science (see 1,9)
Sorry for the lateness of this blog; I thought I was due to do Friday’s this week, and only realised that it was my turn when the puzzle hadn’t been blogged. Upon checking … Read more >>
Guardian 24127/Rover – holi shaman!
Spent longer than usual since there were quite a few clues for which I understood either the wordplay or the definition but not both. One or two is par for the course – … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,498 by Cincinnus
Are you impressed with Cincinnus? I am more and more mightily impressed with Cincinnus. I find my view of various compilers being deepened and refined by the task of blogging their puzzles. What … Read more >>
FT 12,507 by Satori
A broad palette of cryptic devices at play in this puzzle, with some (e.g 14,24,25) depending as much on lateral thinking as orthodox solving mechanisms. I did think that 21 was a little … Read more >>
All about you
One of the advantages of moving the blog to its own domain is that I’m able to get much more information about who’s reading us. It’s amazing the stuff you can find out: … Read more >>
Independent 6469/Dac
Across 1 IT in A,GATES – I wasted some time thinking that “a software giant” was A,MS (Microsoft) rather than A,(Bill) GATES. 9 ISLA – “I’ll”,A 12/13 ITCHY AND SCRATCHY – I’d like … Read more >>
Guardian 24125/Gordius
Sorry for the delay – I had a veterinary emergency when I came home from work today. The cat had managed to develop an arterial thromboembolism (some sort of blood clot in the … Read more >>
Independent 6468/Virgilius
I always enjoy crosswords from Virgilius and this was no exception. I can’t see a theme which is unusual for Virgilius but maybe I haven’t looked long enough! Across 1 GREATA GARBO – (RAGE … Read more >>
Independent 6467 by Mordred
An enjoyable and rather unusual crossword in that I solved it quite fast from definitions and seeing what fit rather than immediately understanding all the clues. Do not understand 4 down though. (Thanks, … Read more >>
Guardian 24,124, Rufus: Crossing the rubicon
Rufus at his best. Took about 15 minutes, with fewer cryptic definitions than usual, but his skill in that department evident in the ordinary definitions – well concealed, with a high proportion using … Read more >>