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NTSPP – 004

Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 004

A Bonus Puzzle by Anax

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Welcome to the fourth in what has become an excellent series of weekly puzzles.  Telegraph setters themselves have been known to dip in, perhaps to see how it really should be done!

This one dropped unexpectedly into my mailbox recently.  Anax thought he would try his hand at writing an easier puzzle.  Easier that what?  You might well ask.  Easier than his usual fare.  Is it easy – that’s for you to judge.

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NTSPP – 003

Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 003

Home in the North West by Radler

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This is the third in a series of additional weekend puzzles.

This week we have a puzzle from Radler.   Anax pointed him in the direction of the Alberich site (see the sidebar) and you will discover two more of his puzzles there.  We are very pleased to be publishing a third puzzle by this setter.

As with last week’s puzzle, this one has a theme.  You are strongly recommended to read the preamble as this explains that certain clues have only wordplay and lack definition.  The solving of 29,27 and 12,32 are key to the solving of the whole puzzle.

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NTSPP – 002

Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 002

Odd One Out by Prolixic

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This is the second in a series of additional weekend puzzles.

After the ridiculous fuss created last week, we should be returning to calmer waters today. Prolixic started by leaving comments on the site, and then rather foolishly tried to drink me under the table at the White Horse a few weeks back (he thought he had a chance because I had already been there for about three hours!). Following this meeting he has written his first review and today we present his debut cryptic puzzle.

The puzzle has a theme, which you should discover fairly quickly, and this will help with quite a few of the clues. To say any more would spoil that “penny drop” moment.

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NTSPP – 001

Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 001

An Independent Puzzle by Anax

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The first in a series of puzzles for anyone who finds that the Saturday Telegraph Prize puzzle leaves them wanting something more challenging.

We mentioned on Saturday, 30th January that Anax was the setter for that day’s prize puzzle in the Independent (#7267). Now that the closing date for entries to the competition has passed, Mike “Eimi” Hutchinson, Crossword Editor, has kindly given permission for the puzzle to be published here.

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Anax Demo Puzzle

Anax Demo Puzzle

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Anax has kindly written an article for publication on the blog to give a top to bottom explanation of how he composed a whole puzzle.  When I saw this article, my first thought was to give you all a chance to solve the puzzle yourselves.  This is not a totally new puzzle – it had previously been available via a link from a now-defunct forum – but it is unlikely that you have seen it before.  It is, however, towards the top end of Toughie difficulty.

It is available in three different formats: Microsoft Word, PDF and Crossword Compiler.  The links for these are at the bottom of the post.

I have decided to turn off comments on this post so that anyone downloading the puzzle will not accidentally see any hints or answers – but I will set up another post to enable discussion.

Anax’s article “From the Top” will be published next Saturday, 31st October.  Trust me, it is well worth the wait.

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