Never knowingly undersolved
Solving time: 35’ More than one instance in which clear wordplay led to a new word (THALLI, SINICISM, CHOTA, OGIVES, ADENITIS) or a familiar word had me reverse engineering the wordplay (DIE HAPPY). … Read more >>
A little trickier this week, with some elaborate wordplay. Solving time: 30 mins Quixote’s puzzles are very accessible. As they appear in a weekend edition with a week to work it out, they … Read more >>
The theme of this puzzle was football teams (indicated by “side” in definitions) or, more particularly, the names that appear as parts of names of teams. e.g. United, City, Athletic. However, there was … Read more >>
Solving Time: 14 minutes I picked this up while munching on my Wheatybangs and thoroughly enjoyed it. Orlando is, one of the setters on the Graun that is taken for granted; his puzzles contain … Read more >>
An entertaining challenge from Dac which had the right mix of clues to keep you on your toes. However, I do have one query and two small questions (19 and 21 across and … Read more >>
‘The dog for me’ (6dn)… well, I don’t think Chifonie’s an Afghan, so it probably had to be setter, didn’t it! That one was a bit obvious to seasoned hands, but there are some nice clues … Read more >>
Another excellent themed puzzle by Virgilius – four colours with in many cases linked clues. Solving time: 16 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 ROSE BUSH Very good 5 JAFFA First letters 10/11/12 … Read more >>
Solving time approx 20 mins. A couple of new words for me (see title) – I hope Shed gets well soon! Otherwise fairly straightforward but I made no more than steady progress. Across … Read more >>
I thought this was tough in places but lots of fun, with the sort of pop culture theme we only see in the Independent crossword. Not sure about 8D though so suggestions welcome. … Read more >>
A very quick solve (app 8 mins). Most of the clues were very straightforward and the wordplay acceptable. There were a few examples of superfluous linkwords placed in the clue to allow the … Read more >>
Solving time: 59 minutes, with Chambers used after about 30. Although I finished up with a slightly quicker time, I think I understand why last week’s commenter Ali said they were finding this … Read more >>
Solving time: pretty quickly Not sure how long I took to solve this since I was multi-tasking at the time but I don’t recall any untoward hold-ups. In retrospect not much to comment … Read more >>
Solving time: 42 mins; one missing (1ac). A common feature of Araucaria’s puzzles is the inclusion of very long phrases spanning multiple clues with very complex wordplay. This week’s complementary phrases were SOMETHING … Read more >>
Apologies for the lateness and brevity of this post, but I have already blogged a Times and an Inquisitor today, and submitted a puzzle for publication in a charity newspaper, as well as … Read more >>
Solving time 22:05 I found this very tough, and was grateful for spotting the Nina – palindromes in the unchecked letters on each edge of the grid – DEIFIED, REPAPER, ROTATOR and REVIVER. … Read more >>