As far as we know, the ‘Beagle 2′ Mars rover landed, but never became operational – maybe it got stuck in the caramel layer…and it was named after Darwin’s ship ‘HMS Beagle‘, which landed him safely on many shores…
Financial Times 16,574 by Julius
Non-prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of September 5, 2020 A puzzle from Julius often means one with a theme and this one is packed with the unannounced theme of Nellie the Elephant. … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,583 by CHALMIE
Sorry for the late post everyone, and thanks to Chalmie for the puzzle. ACROSS 1 RELATE Tell extremely equivocal judge to go outside (6) EquivocaL (outer letter, extremes of) inside (…to go … Read more >>
Guardian 28,240 / Imogen
A reasonably tough challenge from Imogen today, with one or two tricky bits of parsing but I think I got there in the end. The clues are, on the whole, elegantly constructed, with … Read more >>
Independent 10,586 by Eccles
Eccles is back in the midweek spot today. As we have come to expect, this was a fun solve with lots of good surfaces and neat wordplay. We had to check the Mexican … Read more >>
Independent 10,585 / Radian
Radian has set this week’s Tuesday crossword. I wonder what the theme might be … A quick perusal of the clues suggests a (Scottish) clothing theme, and this is confirmed by the solutions. … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1663: Equivalency by Eclogue
Equivalency by Eclogue The unclued across and down entries each illustrate one side of an equivalency whose statement and source is provided, in clue order, by superfluous letters generated in wordplay. Solvers must … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,582 by HAMILTON
Hamilton at his most cheerfully infuriating. Always a challenge, often for the wrong reasons, and always fun of a kind, I s'pose, though if you came here looking for elucidation of the first … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 28,239 by Brendan
Plenty to enjoy here – I particularly liked 6ac, 9ac, 21ac, 1dn, 3dn, and 5dn. Many thanks to Brendan for the puzzle. 13ac INNER CITIES refers to the city names hidden inside the … Read more >>
S&B York 2020
A message from John Henderson
It will come as no surprise that I am currently unable to organise the usual York S&B weekend this year. Every time I try to fix something, the rules change, as they have today with the Rule of Six.
Independent 10,584 by Atrica
A fun challenge (if a bit tricky in places) from Atrica, who is a fairly recent addition to the Indy with a handful of puzzles over the past year or so. This puzzle … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 1087 Hectence
Thanks to Hectence for a nicely tuned Quiptic. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1. Very fine biscuit with no excess fat (5-4) WAFER-THIN : WAFER(a thin crispy biscuit) + THIN(with no … Read more >>
Guardian 28,238 – Anto
I haven’t always been a big fan of Anto’s puzzles in the past, but I enjoyed this one: a few slightly quirky moments, but some nice touches as well. Thanks to Anto. … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,581 by MOO
Another Monday MOO to start the week… This is the second MOO I’ve blogged, and, as with the first, it was very enjoyable. The Dolly and Paris references in 10 and 22 took … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,594 by Poins
The puzzle can be found here. Hi all. Thanks to Poins for another enjoyable puzzle to distract us awhile from another impending Monday. My favourite clue was HAIRDO at 25a, with all … Read more >>