The Observer crossword from Aug 5, 2018
I went pretty slow through this fine crossword. That was probably because my head was still filled with music after my stay at ….
Independent on Sunday 1485/Kairos
Kairos is a regular, if infrequent, setter for the IoS (and occasionally, in the Indy itself). Here he’s provided a sound and engaging puzzle with some fine surface readings. Just one definition I … Read more >>
Azed 2408
This puzzle continues my run of plain Azeds. It was a competition puzzle this week with competitors required to write a clue for LUNCHEONETTE, the entry at 3 down. There was … Read more >>
Independent 9931 by Punk (Saturday Puzzle 11 August 2018)
A fairly tough Saturday workout from Punk this weekend… …nothing obvious (to me) on the thematic/Nina front, but some complicated parsings and nice surface readings. PORK SCRATCHINGS, GENE SIMMONS and LEAD SINGER among my … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 1341 The Wasted Land by Auctor
It may be me but the preamble took a long time to decipher this week. My rough translation – Down clues are normal but some have swapped their definitions and across clues lose … Read more >>
Guardian 27,579 / Enigmatist
On a personal note, this is a nice landmark for me: it’s my 250th post on Fifteensquared, and I’ve been posting here for just over 10 years, starting by writing about one Guardian … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,933 by BRADMAN
A straightforward puzzle today from the Don, thanks to whom for a gentle workout.
Guardian Cryptic 27584 Vlad
The SW quadrant wasn’t so easy as the others. Thanks to Vlad for the challenge. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1, 13 Villain gesturing angrily unlikely to be this (6,10) VIRTUE … Read more >>
Independent 9,929 / Anglio
Anglio is occupying this week’s Thursday slot, offering me a first opportunity to blog one of his puzzles. I found this to be a fairly challenging puzzle to solve and quite an intricate … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,932 / Neo
loonapick is on holiday but he intended to blog today’s FT anyway. Unfortunately, when he came to do so, he found that the hotel’s Wi-Fi would not allow him internet access so you … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 27,583 by Brummie
The puzzle is to be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27583.
Financial Times 15,922 by Mudd
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of July 28, 2018 I occasionally come across a puzzle that seems nearly impossible to get started on only to find it easy going once I do … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,931 / Alberich
The usually very reliable PeeDee has failed to turn up today, which I hope is due to IT issues rather than anything less desirable. An analysis of the clues follows and, in the … Read more >>
Guardian 27,582 / Tramp
It’s always good to see Tramp’s name on a puzzle and this came up to the usual expectations. Unusually for Tramp, no theme leapt out this morning – but I … Read more >>