A great way to start the day with Basilisk.
Inquisitor 1838: Blown Away by Ifor
So, were you blown away? Or mind blown? All clues contain an extra word. In four cases, this is a synonym or generalisation of one of the otherwise unclued three-letter entries, which when … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 29,286 by Paul
A challenging puzzle with lot of parsing left over at the end. Favourites were 10ac, 14ac, and 2dn. Thanks to Paul.
Independent 11633 / Crosophile
Crosophile is an Independent setter who has appeared a few times every year since 2011. He also sets barred crosswords for the Inquisitor and Enigmatic Variations where fifteensquared first mentions him in 2007. … Read more >>
Financial Times 17,636 by BOBCAT
Maybe I have just had a long day, but I found this puzzle very challenging to complete, especially the top half. I think that a majority of the clues were: guess first, parse later, which is fine, unless it is my turn to write up the blog.
Financial Times 17,635 by MOO
MOO kicks off the week…
Guardian Quiptic 1,261/Anto
Anto has the Quiptic for us this morning. I have blogged enough of his puzzles to have a good idea what kind of reaction this one will receive, but I will keep my … Read more >>
Guardian 29,285 – Philistine
The new editor’s policy for Mondays seems to be to alternate Vulcan with setters who we haven’t previously been used to seeing starting the week. This puzzle was perhaps on the gentler end … Read more >>
Independent 11,632/Bluth
A delightful puzzle from Bluth, which I really enjoyed solving and blogging. Some great surface readings and a wide variety of subject matter to test solvers. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition … Read more >>
Everyman 4,030
Sunday and time to walk the dog, find the pub and solve the crossword
Azed No. 2,691 Plain
It’s always a relief when blogging duty coincides with an Azed plain, because his specials, which are especially good, always take me ages to do. I admire his grid construction: OK some of the words are pretty wild, but they are all there in Chambers so far as I can see, and to fit words into a 12×12 grid where there are four 11-letter words abutting each other in pairs seems brilliant. 5 and 8dn are presenting problems, which I’m sure will be explained to me.
Definitions underlined in crimson. Anagrams indicated (like this)* or *(this), with their indicators in italics.
Independent on Sunday 1,769/Hoskins
Another sound Sunday offering from Hoskins, who is becoming a regular in the IoS slot. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition cad clue as definition (xxxx)* anagram anagrind = anagram indicator [x] … Read more >>
Independent 11,631 by Serpent
Serpent gives us today’s challenge.
Financial Times 17,628 by Buccaneer
Puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 13, 2024
Guardian Prize 29,278 by Tramp
I have blogged a number of Tramp’s crosswords in the Inquisitor, but as an irregular Guardian blogger, I am not sure whether I have blogged a puzzle by him in this newspaper before. … Read more >>