Monday Prize Crossword/May 11, 2015
A friendly Falcon crossword, surely very much welcomed by those who miss the Everyman old style. It can be found here , just in case.
Financial Times 14,926 by Mudd
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of May 9, 2015 Another fine Mudd this time, one that proved just a little more challenging than average for me with a couple of terms I … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,935 by MAGWITCH
A good old fashioned crossword from Magwitch. Sometimes setters seem to be falling over themselves to be novel and inventive (which of course is a good thing) but I also like getting the some quality plain puzzles to solve and blog too. I feel they get a bit overlooked. Thank you Magwitch.
Guardian 26,576 – Paul
I usually don’t have too much trouble with Paul’s puzzles these days, but I found this one hard to get started on, and then hard to finish. Looking back, there’s nothing particularly obscure, … Read more >>
Independent 8922 / Dac
Dac’s strength lies in his very subtle misdirection through the surface reading of his clues. The wordplay in Dac’s clues is very rarely complex although there were a couple of … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1385: ICE by Schadenfreude
The sight of the name Schadenfreude tends to strike fear into the mind of a blogger when he or she first sees it as the setter of puzzle to be blogged, but there is … Read more >>
Independent 8,921 by Anax
Anax usually appears on Saturdays in the Independent, or so it seems, but he has put in a welcome weekday appearance today. This is the usual excellent production (I would say that wouldn’t I, since he may well be at the S&B later today; but of course it’s true). It wasn’t at all easy, but Anax seldom is; I think I’ve just about understood everything, but there are one or two slightly dodgy parsings which I trust will be explained properly by someone.
Definitions underlined.
Guardian 26,575 / Pasquale
As is usually the case with Pasquale, in his various guises, some less than familiar (at least for me) words in the grid which needed dictionary confirmation after working out the wordplay. Across … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,934 by SAYANG
A real mixed bag from Sayang.
Quiptic 809 by Hectence
An entertaining and teasing challenge from my favourite Manchester City fan and guinea pig fancier.
Independent 8920/Knut
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water … … and that we were all done and dusted with the 2015 election, along comes Knut with a … Read more >>
Guardian 26,574 by Rufus
Th puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26574.
AZED 2,240
Some difficult wordplays to decode (e.g. 15A, 22D) with a typical rate of Big Red Book consultations. About medium for an Azed I’d say. Still would like some enlightenment below. Enlightenment provided by Norman and Sidey (thanks!)
Independent on Sunday 1,316 by Hypnos
A good and very enjoyable Sunday puzzle that I found trickier than usual. I think that the general level of difficulty of the IoS has gone up over the time I have been blogging it. I wonder if this is editorial policy or just random variation? Possibly just a natural decline in my faculties.
Beelzebub 1,314
A slightly hasty post this week, while I rush to get everything in place before going abroad. Still, I think everything was quite clear. A good challenge though, with the top left corner … Read more >>