An absorbing puzzle from Eccles which had an interesting mix of conventional and pop culture clues.
Financial Times 16,058 by CRUX
Thanks to CRUX for a very enjoyable start to the week!
Private Eye (Cyclops/641) Xmas Special 2018 – The Headmistress Writes
Headmistress has written quite a lot – 585 pages I hear. So I suppose we should be thankful this annual giant puzzle is still only 27×27 instead of something much larger. The puzzle … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 27,711 by Vulcan
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27711.
Independent on Sunday 1,506 by Peter
The puzzle can be found here. Hi everyone. I hope your year has got off to a good start. Peter seems to be in a party mood this January, bringing us sexy fun, a large bottle of … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.1362 – Christmas Eve by Augicea
“The unclued entries (6,4 and 5,5,6) were responsible for the thematic event which took place on CHRISTMAS EVE. Across and down clues clash in seven cells. In each across clue there is an extra word which must be removed before solving. The middle letters of these words, read in clue order, give a phrase that cryptically tells solvers which of the clashing letters must be chosen; not all resulting entries are real words. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended; one answer is a variant spelling that can be found in the Oxford Dictionary of English.”
Azed 2429
It’s traditional for the last Azed of the year to be on the easy side, after the rigours of the Christmas special; so it was with this one, though it was by no … Read more >>
Guardian Genius 186 / Soup
The Instructions: Five solutions, not further defined, each suggest a literal substitution. All the clues are normal, but other solutions must have one of these five substitutions applied to them before entry in … Read more >>
Everyman 3,768
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3768.
Independent 10056 by Dalibor
Happy New year to one and all. Dalibor is today’s setter. A new setter for my 200th blog. A thoroughly enjoyable puzzle and just the right level to awaken the sleepy brain cells … Read more >>
AZED 2,428 – Christmas Play-tent
I enjoyed this very much. I solved the puzzle a little at a time over a few days, just right for a Christmas special. Thank you Azed.
Guardian Prize 27,704 / Paul
Owing to the seasonal intervention of Maskarade’s Jumbo puzzle, I find myself back again in sync with Paul’s customary fortnightly appearance in the Saturday Prize slot. After some great puzzles over the Christmas … Read more >>
Independent 10,055 by Phi
Phi just goes on producing, doesn’t he. Nothing much to say about this except the usual praise for the setter. But 21dn is still a problem.
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.
Financial Times 16,056 / Wanderer
Quite a stiff challenge from Wanderer today with some unusual devices in the wordplay which may have caused some parsing difficulties for the less experienced solvers. I enjoyed the tussle so thanks Wanderer … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 27,709 by Paul
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27709.