Never knowingly undersolved
A third puzzle from Penumbra, averaging about one a year. Preamble: All clues contain a word that must be removed before solving. Initial letters of those words, in clue order, give a … Read more >>
Thank you to Flimsy. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1. Designs small boats (8) SKETCHES : S(abbrev. for “small”) + KETCHES(sailing boats). 5. Presents chests, topless (6) OFFERS : “coffers”(chests/strongboxes) minus … Read more >>
Wiglaf fills the Tuesday slot this week – we’re on the look-out for a theme …. but we needed a fair bit of electronic help to find it! Because 34ac is, in our … Read more >>
Picaroon in his usual good form. As ever with a Picaroon puzzle, this was a witty and fun solve, I had ticks against many clues, including the elegant square in the centre, and … Read more >>
Quite a tricky puzzle today, but an enjoyable one. I think the trickiness comes mainly from some tenuous definitions (mentioned in the notes below), though the hardest bit was probably the rather indirect … Read more >>
As always, a delightful Quiptic from Pan. Plenty of devices for the beginner to get his or her teeth into, and some smooth surface readings to boot. And if you are a beginner, … Read more >>
Good start to the week. Thanks to Slormgorm for this Monday morning challenge. A couple of old chestnuts, but overall a good challenge on the correct level of difficulty expected on a Monday. … Read more >>
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28220. Well, it’s Monday, and Vulcan fills that spot frequently and reasonably well. Much of one’s response to the puzzle depends on one’s opinion about cryptic definitions; … Read more >>
Obviously this puzzle would have been set and commissioned well before the recent exams fiascos, but there are some prescient coincidences…
Another fun weekend challenge in Everyman’s recent run of good form. Some have complained about Everyman’s rather loose definitions or vague indicators in the past, but I thought everything here was clear; a … Read more >>
One of Azed’s easier puzzles. By Azed standards, this was quite straightforward. I judge difficulty of barred crosswords by how far I get before I have to resort to dictionaries. In this case, … Read more >>
A gentle puzzle, and an enjoyable one. Thank you Nitsy. ACROSS 1 VERY Each head’s scratched fiercely (4) eVERY (each) with first letter (head) missing (scratched, deleted) 3 SPACE BAR Stretch bra … Read more >>
A puzzle from Morph – a guarantee of some fun. A quirky puzzle as I expected. 6ac had me in stitches from the off. Suspect it will lose a bit in the telling … Read more >>
A delightful puzzle from Kruger, whose monicker is reminiscent of a famous ‘park’ in South Africa…
Super puzzle. Thank you Paul. It took me a while to catch on to the theme which I would describe as hidden in plain sight. I experimented with all sort of fiendish thematic … Read more >>