Never knowingly undersolved
It’s good to be back after a few days away (my thanks to Shanne for taking over last week) and better still to find a Philistine puzzle to blog. And it’s Philistine on … Read more >>
Thank you to Gozo. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Please excuse the unusual formatting. I’ve had to make do since my usual posting method is not working. Across Rodent, second seen in … Read more >>
Apologies for a slightly hurried blog today. I enjoyed this, and particularly liked 13ac, 24ac, 5dn, and 20dn. Thanks to Qaos
Kruger, an extremely prolific setter of Inquisitor puzzles. Preamble: Each clue contains a single letter misprint that needs to be rectified before solving; half of these occur in the definition and half … Read more >>
We welcome Stetson to the Indy today – a new setter with a blockbuster of a puzzle.
AARDVARK kicks off the week…
Well, that was fun. Hard fun, but fun. I did enjoy the puzzle, mainly for its great surfaces, but it took two goes to finish it off. Some distant, but perfectly fair synonyms … Read more >>
A new setter today, or at least a new pseudonym. DYNAMO is famously an anagram of MONDAY, which may be significant. This was definitely a Monday-ish puzzle (it would have been a good … Read more >>
A carefully constructed Quiptic from Chandler for our Sunday morning entertainment. Hits the spot, I think. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition cad clue as definition (xxxx)* anagram anagrind = anagram indicator … Read more >>
Relative newbie Indy setter Deri returns
Maybe I’ve only just noticed, but Azed’s crosswords nowadays frequently have two or three subtraction clues, as here. These are often quite difficult, and I didn’t find this crossword all that easy, with so many crazy words that had to be looked up in Chambers. But otherwise it was much as usual, with its sound clueing. The doubts I have expressed below may well be down to me, not to Azed.
Definitions in blue, underlined (the rest of the clues are in crimson). Anagram indicators in italics. Anagrams indicated (like this)* or *(this).
What we have come to expect: not perhaps the most exciting surfaces (except for some, particularly 22dn), but plenty of ingenuity shown, and sound clues.
Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (anagram, homophone, hidden, inclusion, etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated (like this)* or *(like this). Link-words in green.
Bluebird provides us with the Saturday challenge this week.
This is the twentieth Guardian Quick Cryptic, a series of 11 x 11 crosswords designed to support beginners learning cryptic crosswords. The whole point of these crosswords is support and encouragement of new solvers, so special rules for these crosswords apply – see here. The puzzle can be found here.