A bank holiday Monday offering from Crux
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Due to the number of times during recent months that a valid entry has been rejected, I have disabled the Captcha plugin, so you will no longer need to complete a Captcha when … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 967/Anto
A request to step in as holiday cover for a fellow blogger, willingly agreed to. Then it turns out to be Anto. Ah well, other forms of Bank Holiday entertainment are available. … Read more >>
Guardian 27,520 – Pasquale
Pasquale’s first appearance in the post-Rufus Monday slot finds him in very benign mood: after a single pass through the clues I had only a handful of gaps. Nevertheless the clear and accurate … Read more >>
Independent 9,866 – Vigo
A crossword that I liked very much, full of silky smooth clues.
Cyclops 625 – Right-Wing Press Clutch at Straws
A hint of a nod to the Royal Wedding, with ‘Harry’ and ‘Markle’ both making an appearance in the clues…is Cyclops getting a bit soft in his (presumably/relatively) old age?… …and some American … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,474 by Hypnos
Good stuff from Hypnos once again. Largely raced through this one, though the grid didn’t help a great deal, being one of those that’s quite thoroughly divided into four discrete areas. There were … Read more >>
AZED 2,397 GIVE & TAKE
A special from Azed this week, with a hidden quotation to be revealed by finding which letters have been omitted from the across answers and which added to the down answers.
Everyman 3,736
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3736.
Independent 9865 Serpent
This was a good Saturday challenge from the slithery one. We found most of the clues rather easier than we would have expected from Serpent, but there were a few that had … Read more >>
Guardian Prize 27,513 / Philistine
Having [unusually] had two consecutive Saturdays without a Paul puzzle has caused a blip in the synchronicity with my monthly blogs that I’ve mentioned several times lately. I think it was Arachne’s request … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.1330 – Pioneer by Shark
‘The grid illustrates a pioneering feat. The unclued entry must be left blank initially, and the grid completed by filling it with the name of the PIONEER. Solvers must also enter the same single letter into the two barred-off cells, highlight two points of interest in the grid, and connect them with a curved line (running through the term he
coined). Having disliked a term already in use, solvers must remove four letters from the grid (cryptically signifying the term itself). The final grid contains only real words; Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended, but does not contain the plural form at 32.”
Independent 9,864 by Phi
Excellent crossword as usual from Phi. Some of the clues were very good, and sometimes one didn’t for a long time know where to go.
Definitions underlined in maroon. Anagram indicators in italics.
Guardian 27,518 – Brummie
Despite a few easy clues, I found this quite slow going, particularly in the NW corner, though for no obvious reason on looking back at it. Thanks to Brummie. There’s an impressive number … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,867 by WANDERER
A typical delightful offering from WANDERER – with a healthy range of difficulty in the clues. Some parsings could be improved upon I think.