Unusual to see NEO featured on a Friday but definitely welcome nevertheless. On the easier side of his offerings, with only a couple of parsings holding me up from a quick finish. Thanks, NEO!
Guardian Cryptic 27,751 by Philistine
A pretty quick solve, especially with the longer answers going in early. Parsing was a bit more tricky, and I’m still stuck on 16dn. Favourites were 9ac, 20/13, 26/27, and 17dn. Thanks to Philistine.
Independent 10097 / Phi
Thanks to Eimi for confirming on Monday that today’s puzzle is a Phi – at least some things remain constant while the technology moves on!
We like the new format of the interactive puzzles in the online Indy, but we have complained (along with Eimi and several others) that they do not now include the setter’s name – pretty crucial to cryptic addicts like us! We are told that this issue is being addressed but maybe, the more folk who comment on it, the more likely it is that it will be dealt with quickly.
Independent 10,096 / Serpent
Serpent has provided his latest puzzle for our stimulation this Thursday, on a grid that contains a higher-than-average number of lights. I found that I made steady progress through this puzzle, although at … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,097 by PETO
Today’s FT puzzle was set by Peto.
Guardian 27,750 – Tramp
I got off to a very slow start with this, and didn’t get much quicker as I went on. The grid didn’t help, with poor connectivity between the top and bottom halves. In … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,087 by Redshank
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of February 9, 2019
Financial Times 16,096 by GOZO
As always a themed puzzle from Gozo. I didn’t know them all but each themed answer is gettable from the wordplay alone. Thank you Gozo.
Guardian Cryptic 27,749 by Nutmeg
Nutmeg provides this morning’s Guardian challenge.
Independent 10095 / Eccles
An Eccles puzzle for our entertainment today. I enjoyed this puzzle which contained some very good clue surfaces. The one that defeated me longest was my last one in, 4 … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1581: Almost Surely by Hedge-sparrow
Hedge-sparrow makes a debut in the Inquisitor series with this puzzle. I have solved a few Hedge-sparrow puzzles before in the Listener series. The preamble read: "In the completed grid, … Read more >>
Financial Times 16,095 by HAMILTON
A dogged fight versus Hamilton this morning and one which I seem to have lost…
Independent 10094 by Radian
(Why have they stopped giving the number and author of the crossword, so that one has to put it in by hand?)
As always with Radian, an utterly satisfactory experience. Many can be explained very simply, although that doesn’t mean they were trivially easy. There is one (22ac) which I can’t understand, but usually in these cases the parsing is perfectly obvious once it’s explained. (There was one … but it became clear when I was looking over what I wrote. Yes quite obvious.)
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.
Guardian Cryptic 27,748 by Arachne
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27748.
Guardian 27,747 / Vulcan
It’s Vulcan back in the Monday slot. We have the familiar medley of charades, anagrams and double / cryptic definitions, some of which I found rather weak, to ease us into … Read more >>