Bracer

Smaller puzzles, especially those that don't fit one of the major puzzle types, are often rather unkindly called fillers. Though they are undoubtedly useful for filling space around larger puzzles, many of them are perfectly valid puzzles in their own way. Bracer is one of these 'fillers'.

Each row of the Bracer grid contains three clued answers. The first answer has six letters, five of which are used to make the second answer, four of whose letters are used to provide the third answer. The single letter that has been dropped at each stage is written in a column of the grid, and the two columns spell out items on a theme, perhaps popular desserts or London buildings.

The spell-out columns provide the only link between separate rows of answers, so until the spell-outs begin to reveal themselves, each row must be solved independently. This is made considerably easier by the fact that the three words in the row are partial anagrams of each other, so solving any one of the three clues in the row will probably unlock the other two.

A straightforward and enjoyable puzzle, burdened with a very lengthy introduction.