First Brummie for me for a while, found this a bit tricky in places, but I think it’s all ok now.
Independent 9011 / Vigo
One for beginners and those with very little time to spare. Having said that, it was still a pleasurable solve due to the generally good, and in places excellent, surfaces. . Across 1 Trim, … Read more >>
Financial Times 15024 Phssthpok
(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.) An enjoyable puzzle from a Tuesday … Read more >>
Financial Times 15024 with Picture Quiz
(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) An enjoyable puzzle from a Tuesday regular, thanks to Phssthpok. Definitions are underlined in … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 824/Pan
A fine Quiptic from Pan, as usual. I do wish the Quiptic setters would stop using this stupid Guardian grid, though. It’s got so many entries with less than 50% checking and is … Read more >>
Independent 9010/Hob
On checking I find that Hob has mainly contributed the Indy Saturday Prize puzzles, or a Thursday ‘hard one’. It’s Bank Holiday, of course, so perhaps the Ed thinks we have a bit … Read more >>
Guardian 26,664 by Rufus
The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26664.
Cyclops 554: The dissolute honours list
I haven’t got much to say about this, really — not too difficult. For some reason which I can’t now fathom, 4d held me up longer than the others. Favourite clue this week … Read more >>
Everyman 3,594
Back to normal with Everyman, didn’t take too long and don’t remember any great difficulties when I solved it.
Independent on Sunday 1,331 by Nitsy
A rare outing from an excellent setter. I found this a pretty swift though still very enjoyable solve. Perhaps the only stumbling block was 9 down, which was an unfamiliar term. The wordplay … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1329
An enjoyable puzzle which I solved intermittently whilst downloading and installing many Windows updates, having just reset my pc to its factory condition prior to upgrading to Windows 10. I’m therefore finding it … Read more >>
AZED 2,255
I always enjoy blogging AZED puzzles, all those new words that I would otherwise never have known. Thank you AZED.
Independent 9003 by Tyrus (Saturday Prize Puzzle 22 August 2015)
An enjoyable mix of references from Tyrus – ranging from classical mythology to Disney via the Book of Genesis, Ealing Studios, contemporary UK politics and the England cricket team – with a touch of … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.1187 – Homograms IV by Kruger
In Homograms IV, there are 12 clues (two sets of 6) that involve two different pairs of changes before they are written in the grid. In one set, the subsidiary indication clues a homonym of the definition, and the grid entry is an anagram of the homonym. In the other set, the subsidiary indication clues an anagram of the definition, and the grid entry is a homonym of the anagram. Clear?
The solving method was new to me. Homograms III (No.879) was published in 2009, about when I was starting to solve EVs, but I think I missed it.
Guardian Prize 26,657 by Otterden
A most enjoyable puzzle and a good level of difficulty for a prize: enough to be satisfying but also solveable by ‘mere mortals’ so that everyone can have a chance at the entering prize draw if they wish to. Thanks Otterden.