Never knowingly undersolved
Some bloggers see the name Filbert and immediately leap to nut-based puns: “It was/wasn’t a tough nut to crack” / “Today’s nutty setter …” etc. Unfortunately I am unable to stoop to this … Read more >>
After a three-week absence, Paul returns to the Saturday slot. This is one of those long weekends where you see my name on a blog for three days running – but I don’t … Read more >>
A tough challenge from NEO this Friday, where my last 5 solves took as much time as the rest of the puzzle. Thanks NEO, for the treat.
Paul rounds off the week with a challenge that I found interesting and enjoyable – and ultimately frustrating. The key to the puzzle is obviously 20ac, which proved to have two aspects – … Read more >>
As usual we have Phi providing our Friday entertainment – though he’s been popping up on other days lately.
Rodriguez pops up again today.
I think this may be the first Velia puzzle I have blogged.
An enjoyable solve – my favourites today were 1ac, 9/16, 18ac, 28ac, and 7dn. Thanks to Matilda for the puzzle.
The preamble
“A letter must fall out wherever it occurs from a thematic (or related) answer in each of the central nine columns, dropping into the bottom row to form THE AUSTRALASIAN ONE which, along with two thematic answers, is not in Chambers Dictionary (2016), which is otherwise recommended. Enumerations refer to grid entries.”
Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of July 31, 2021
A puzzle with special instructions today which, depending on your general knowledge, you might find easy or very tricky. Fortunately I was on familiar territory here. Thank you Gozo.
The mid-week slot has been occupied by Tees this week. I found this to be a medium-difficulty puzzle, which I made steady progress through but found hard to finish and to fully parse. … Read more >>
Quite a tough one from Imogen today, though fortunately with a few easier clues to get me started, followed by a steady slog to the end. Thanks to Imogen. Across 1 AUTUMN … Read more >>
Complex rubric: Each of 15 clues [none to five-letter entries] contains an extra word having only one letter, sometimes repeated, not present in that clue’s answer. In clue order these letters identify the … Read more >>
A short but satisfying solve.