Never knowingly undersolved
A tough challenge from the impaler today, with a political flavour to many of the clues. I see ACE across the middle row – I don’t know if that’s significant. Despite the tricky … Read more >>
Solid Tuesday fun from the Falcon. All pretty straightforward, although I did get held up for a couple of minutes trying to think of a novelist in the top right before sanity prevailed. … Read more >>
Some good fun-packed clues from Tees. 21 and 16 stood out for me as excellent. ACROSS 9/10 GARDENING LEAVE Cruelly avenging leader in suspension from job (9,5) (Avenging leader)* 11 DROVE Resistance … Read more >>
Matilda gets a third outing as a cryptic setter today. I have never blogged (or indeed solved) a Matilda puzzle before (I only have time these days to solve puzzles that I am … Read more >>
Thanks Beale for an enjoyable Quiptic, made easier with the many anagrams. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1. Nothing fits with information detectives last gave on killing (8) GENOCIDE : O(letter … Read more >>
MOO!… I believe this is the first MOO I’ve blogged. A very satisfying solve with a lot of very nice surfaces. 7d and 20a amused me. Thanks MOO! ACROSS 1. Go, but only … Read more >>
The puzzle can be found here. Hi everyone, I hope all is well with you. Thanks to Hypnos for today entertainment. My favourite clues were those for CODE (1a) and ODIN (31a). … Read more >>
Quite a tricky one this week I thought, with a lot of unfamiliar words in both answers and wordplay. Everything worked out soundly in the end, of course, with just a slight niggle … Read more >>
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3852. This week we have paired clues aplenty: 1A OFF-THE-WALL and 26A ON THE SHELF; the rhyming pair 4D WEBCAMS and 5D LOG JAMS; the assonant artists … Read more >>
A ‘gubernatorial’ feel to this puzzle, with three references to ‘presidents’, plus Mao, Merkel, Her Majesty and Charlie…and also some pop royalty with Tina Turner and Yoko…and all that just in the clues!
“Clues are normal and in conventional order; bars (which would not be symmetrical) must not be shown. Numbers given are answer lengths. Three cells each containing more than one letter must have each group replaced by a symbol. In the completed grid 20 cells containing two names and one letter showing a position in a sequence must be highlighted and three letters italicised; the centre cell is left empty. Solvers must empty six further cells which allow BAND TO reset, leaving real words. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
It’s always a real treat for me to solve and blog (particularly on a Saturday, when there’s more time to ponder over and savour the clues and do some background research) a puzzle … Read more >>
Thanks to Crucible for the themed puzzle. (I probably need correcting for one of the parsings.) Definitions are underlined in the clues. The theme is “clothing”. Across 9. Anonymous report about duke getting … Read more >>
An intriguing challenge from an uncommon Friday setter. Thanks Goliath, for the treat! FF: 9 DD: 9 ACROSS 1, 5 SPIRIT OF THE AGE He composed with a gift to inspire 12 (6,2,3,3) … Read more >>
As I’m used to saying, a thoroughly efficient and workmanlike crossword from Phi. In one or two cases there are marginal criticisms and in one place the parsing defeats me, but hell, we … Read more >>