MPP – 099 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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MPP – 099

Monthly Prize Puzzle (Aug 2020)

Faulty Keyboard 2 by Alchemi

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

Why not have a go at our latest Monthly Prize Puzzle?

The winner will receive their choice of any of the Telegraph Crossword Books.

Please note that, due to punitive postal charges, while the competition is open to all, the prize is only available to UK solvers.

A review will follow after the closing date (15th Aug 2020).

The competition is now closed

The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.

Please read the instructions carefully.

I’ve left this post open for comments, but if you don’t want your comment to be deleted then do not provide any help for other solvers or mention any detail about the puzzle, especially references to individual clues, until after the closing date.


12 comments on “MPP – 099

  1. WOW. That was a struggle.
    Thank goodness that I picked the letter to be deleted at a very early stage otherwise it would have been very hard indeed.
    Great tussle…….Great fun.
    Thanks Alchemi.

  2. Just had my first look and having answered only one clue am banking on the letter I’ve thought of – remains to be seen whether my luck is in!

    1. Seems as though my luck held good but that wretched singer with a submachine gun is still defeating me!

  3. :phew: That was a three-pipe plus problem, but, in the end, persistence, and repeatedly stopping and starting paid off. I’ve counted the number of occurrences of the omitted letter three times and, as I got the same answer each time, I am ready to bite the bullet and submit.

    That was fiendish Alchemi; a very tough but very enjoyable challenge. Well done and thank you.

  4. Well that took some doing and there’s one where I’m not 100% certain of the parsing
    Thanks for the challenge Alchemi – but please do invest in a new keyboard

  5. I rightly guessed the letter to be deleted at a very early stage by going through some very easy clues that helped me to quickly complete the grid barring the one that took me nearly two days how to go past hiding sin at golf course. I liked 11a, 18a, 26a, 9d, 16d and 19d, but my favourite was 4d. However, I haven’t yet counted the number of letters omitted which is not an arduous task, but I will definitely do it at least five times and obviously in phases to reassure myself before finally submitting my answer. Tonnes of thanks to Alchemi for the enjoyable entertainment – keep up with your majestic creation even if another key of your board meets the same fate.

  6. What a great puzzle! A stiff test but very enjoyable.
    Hope I have counted the number of letters omitted correctly…..now that would be a dreadful error!

    Thanks to Alchemi for such wonderful ingenuity.

  7. I am still counting …and still wondering how on earth Alchemi filled this grid.

    Hopefully, all will be explained in the review.

Comments are closed.