Category: Monthly Club Special

Hello from PDX! Our Airbnb is very nice, with antlered animal skulls arrayed all around the living room, with a real stuffed jackalope head taking pride of place! Very homely. Anyway I thought this was … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,227: TLS of the Unexpected”

As usual I feel mildly sorry for those who spurn the MCS because the vocabulary is too difficult – they are missing some of the best clues of the month, every month. As usual there … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,226: A Void (Lik Th Plagu)!”

Crikey, is the year half over already? This was another quality MCS displaying the usual delight in the mad, bad and dangerous to define words bulking out our dictionaries, all clued with the usual precision … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,225: Levi Stubbs’ Tears”

Apols for this going out in a somewhat incomplete state earlier – I queued it up a month ago planning later improvements and of course promptly forgot about it entirely. In any case it was … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,224: Don’t Want None Unless You Got Puns, Hun”

I very much enjoyed this but there was definitely some winceworthy vocabulary to contend with in here – I suppose I shouldn’t complain as while science may not really be my bag (baby), at least … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,223: Don’t Know Much Biology”

A very tough but typically brilliant MCS puzzle, that was a wonderful stew of hard wordplay and pretty high-level knowledge both vocabularian and GK-wise. The down clues were my favourites this time around, with the … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,222: A Bit Harder Than Chopsticks!”

I thought this was a super MCS with two wonderful 15-letter highlights at 2dn and 7dn propping up the whole puzzle. 2dn in particular is almost certainly the most perfect clue I’ve seen this year … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,221: The Pillars of (Crossword) Creation”

An uncommonly gentle MCS in parts, with a run of clues towards the end that made me think that I was doing a “straight” puzzle, and quite a few others that had generous pointers in … Read more “Monthly Club Special No 20,220: Right on the Left Staircase”

The usual masterclass in clues which most mortals will have no chance whatsoever of Bunging In From Definition, needing to tease almost every one out painstakingly from the wordplay. Can JIRD and CIGUATOXIC *really* be … Read more “Monthly Club Special No 20,219: Terracottamasalata”

Cripes, there were some rude looking words in this month’s grid, such that I was afraid to look a few of them up for fear of what I might find. The usual tough and satisfying … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,218: Rogan’s Profanisaurus”