Never knowingly undersolved
A very straightforward plain Azed this week, after the previous week’s Carte Blanche. A puzzle whose references span from Greek mythology to Radio 4. As always, I learned something from my explorations into … Read more >>
My sense when solving and blogging this one was that it was rather clunky, with some overlong surfaces. Your experience may have differed, of course. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd … Read more >>
Thank you to Hoskins for an amusing puzzle. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1. I am one to tolerate drug-taking naked king (6) BEARER : E(abbrev. for the drug, Ecstasy) contained … Read more >>
A pleasant, if not too taxing, solve from Morph today – no obvious tricks, but it was a treat…(oops, I’m a week early with the Halloween puns…)
A biscuit-themed puzzle from Paul this week. In his email to subscribers, Paul mentioned that this puzzle was inspired by the actions of a three-year old – “crumbs, that was embarrassing”: presumably one … Read more >>
Phi-day is upon us once again, and here he is with his latest offering. I found this to be a medium-difficulty Phi puzzle, with more obscure vocabulary than is perhaps customary. 14 and … Read more >>
Thanks to Vlad for this puzzle, which contains some topical references. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1. Plant rejected a kind of strike after one fellow sacked (7) FUCHSIA : Reversal … Read more >>
A super fun puzzle from the giant this Friday. Thanks Goliath!! FF: 10 DD : 9 ACROSS 1, 7 BACHELOR OF ARTS A degree of role reversal by composer: nothing should precede wind … Read more >>
Jason provides this morning's FT crossword. A first pass of the across clues yielded a handful of entries, enough to make the down clues very straightforward. Getting the two long answers then meant … Read more >>
I have solved all Bluth’s puzzles in the Independent since his appearance in April, but this is the first one I have blogged. There was an interesting use of words … Read more >>
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28271. This gives me the impression of an exercise in envelopes, very well varied, with a few double definitions thrown in (of course, it is actually more … Read more >>
Hi all, and thanks to Stick Insect for a lovely puzzle. The preamble reads: All answers are modified before entry into the grid to agree with a statement by some VILLAINS, which … Read more >>
Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 10, 2020 I enjoyed this much more than the last couple of Mudds. My favourite clues are 10ac (COASTER), 14dn (NATTERJACK), 17dn (ALGERIANS) and 23dn … Read more >>
Trickier than usual from Aardvark, but enjoyable as always. Thank you Aardvark. There must be at least one pangram in the grid, are there any letter-counters out there who would like to work … Read more >>
It’s Qaos providing the mid-week entertainment, with an enjoyable and, as usual, themed puzzle. Regarding the theme, I was led for a short while up the garden path. For once, I thought to … Read more >>