A crossword of extremes for me. I love the theme and the very clever way it's been set. I don't love the thematic clues at all, though. I really appreciate the skill in setting them, and some are... ...
Excellent challenge beautifully constructed. Shirley Curran is always good value as a setter. Fortunately for us G spotted the quotation very early on, which helped significantly.
A skilful implementation of a delightful theme. I found the clues incredibly tough, especially where clashes were involved, and spent almost as long getting the last few answers as I did on the rest...
After several days in bed with very nasty flu I wasn't on best form to tackle one of the most challenging setters in the business, but lucky guesses and a series of PDMs made this an enjoyable journey...
With quite a bit of surprise and head scratching, we have a full grid. It took a lucky early spotting of the theme to speed our solve up enormously. I thought this was quite challenging. Thank you,...
I couldn't see an earlier thread .. but I'm guessing that there must be one. A curious puzzle. Some very easy clues, but coupled with a bit of trickery. It was enjoyable, but some debate will ensue...
Quite surprised to be the first one here. A daunting preamble for sure, but I decided just to start solving and see where it got me. A lovely series of penny drops later, a satisfying solve. Thanks...
Thanks Kea for a rather beautiful construction. At first glance, I thought it was going to be much tougher (particularly as, for about the first 10 minutes, I managed to overlook the fact that the...
Most accomplished: tricky devices, clever clues, excellent title, and all the thematic stuff does (eventually) fit together most neatly. If this is a Listener debut, then it's one of the best for some...
Am I being really slow, or are there mistakes in the grid - I have four nine letter spaces but only three clues (L, N, O) and six 8 letter clues but only four spaces?
Nice to have a circular one and we were given a very generous hint from the start but the very last two words we had to enter have taken almost as long as the rest of the grid fill. I have had a good...
A gentler test than last week, that's for sure. The penny dropped with most of the right hand side of the grid filled - a nice treatment of a familiar theme.
Very satisfying. Some very good clues with some neatly hidden misprints. I'd forgotten that quotation, and was delighted to be reminded of it. Early on I thought there was going to be an ambiguity,...
Nice straightforward clues, and a theme that never fails to raise a smile. Familiarity with the theme, guessed early, made is possible to see where some clashes were going to be before both...
Pretty easy grid fill, and an interesting second puzzle. I do quite enjoy puzzles of this second type, but the ones I have seen before tend to be very trivial. This one was a little more challenging....
A fairly typical Chalicea puzzle: nice use of theme, clues not too challenging (though I struggled for a while to find the extra letters in some of the mid-range down clues). A very pleasant exercise:...
