John Dawson RIP
John Dawson (Armonie/Chifonie) passed away towards the end of last month. A tribute to him by the FT crossword editor, along with his first puzzle published in the FT, can be found here.
Guardian Cryptic 28,262 by Carpathian
A neatly clued puzzle from Carpathian – the first time I've blogged one of their crosswords. I particularly liked 13ac, 2dn, 4dn, 15dn, and 17dn – many thanks to Carpathian. ACROSS 9 DISPARAGE … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 1091 Beale
Thanks to Beale for this enjoyable Quiptic. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1. Put one’s foot down when presented with energy charge (8) STAMPEDE : STAMPED(put one’s foot down heavily, on … Read more >>
Independent 10,608/Raich
Excellent. A Raich falls on my blogging day, which hasn’t happened for a bit. Raich is one of the reasons that you’re reading this blog now. When I first got back into cryptics, … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,605 by ARMONIE
John Dawson’s first FT crossword from November 2 1995… It’s been my pleasure to have blogged a number of ARMONIE’s crosswords over the past few years. Always enjoyable, and this, his first, was … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,598 by Tees
The puzzle can be found here. Hello folks. Me again, sorry! I’ve been on the Weekend Indy blogging rota for very nearly two years, but incredibly it has taken until now for … Read more >>
Everyman 3,860
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3860. Another Everyman with the trademark ‘primarily’ clue (reverting to form after last week’s variant), a weakish rhyming pair, and a bunch of &lits, all a little … Read more >>
Azed No. 2,521 Plain – Competition Puzzle
Not as many obscure word as usual, which made this a quicker solve than normal. Very enjoyable regardless, thank you Azed. I will be away much of the day, leave a comment and … Read more >>
Independent 10,607 by Tyrus
The puzzle can be found here. Hi everyone. Today Tyrus entertains us with a puzzle I found at the gentle end of his (his, not the!) difficulty range. Not too much political … Read more >>
Guardian Saturday Puzzle 28,255 / Paul
Paul returns to the Saturday slot, with what I thought was a pretty straightforward puzzle. As far as I can see, it’s squeaky-clean and I’m not sure I would have recognised it as … Read more >>
Independent 10,606 by Phi
I’ve done it again. After forgetting a few months ago I forgot again, and only remembered at nearly midday, not helped by the fact that I had taken ages to do this morning’s … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,603 by WANDERER
A fun, intriguing challenge from WANDERER today. FF: 10 DD: 9 ACROSS 7 LYNCH LAW Result of mob rule? Former Taoiseach lost a wife (5,3) LYNCH ( former taoiseach, jack lynch ) L … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 28,260 by Crucible
A slow, very tricky solve, and with a lot to enjoy. My favourites were 20ac, 26ac, 3dn, and especially 5dn… …which also hints at a theme of lexicography and reference book publishers/websites e.g. … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,602 by REDSHANK
A toughie from Redshank which I needed help to complete. I managed to complete this puzzle, but three of the parsings had me beat, so I needed some assistance with DELTOID, SEVER and … Read more >>
Independent 10,605 by Monk
Monk throws down the gauntlet today We found this to be quite a challenge, mainly due to some fairly obscure (to us) synonyms in the wordplay in several clues and one or two … Read more >>