Posted by Andrew on 29th January 2009
There seems to have been a bit of confusion on the blog scheduling front, with Azed 1911 not having been covered. In the interests of completeness I’ve taken the liberty of producing this rather minimalist blog. If anyone is reading and needs further clarification, please ask.
Posted in Azed | 3 Comments »
Posted by Ciaran McNulty on 29th January 2009
I’ve started to dread seeing Gordius’s name when it’s my turn to blog. As one of the harder Guardian setters I often find his puzzles impenetrable, unlike Araucaria who I tend to regard as hard but solvable given time.
Posted in Guardian | 47 Comments »
Posted by Simon Harris on 29th January 2009
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
Posted in Independent | 16 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 29th January 2009
I found this fairly easy, with the two 15-letters entries solved straightaway. Solving time, 15 mins.
Posted in Independent | No Comments »
Posted by Gaufrid on 29th January 2009
A very pleasing puzzle, even when solving at 4am! A minor quibble with 17a but otherwise some enjoyable clues. Unusually for me the first run through generated no definite grid entries but the second pass was more fruitful (perhaps I was a little more awake by then 
A quick scan of my archive revealed that we only see this setter occasionally which is a pity judging by today’s offering.
Posted in FT | 3 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 29th January 2009
Monday Prize Crossword on 19 January 2009
dd = double definition
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram
ACROSS
1 LOCKET Sounds like “lock it”
4 TEA CHEST Ins of EACH (everyone) in TEST (trial)
9 MAIDEN dd plus &lit. In cricket, an over (6 balls delivered) when no run is scored is called a maiden who is a girl and can be a synonym for a virgin
10 SCRAMBLE dd
12 ADJUTANT Cha of AD (advertisement or notice) JUT (project) ANT (worker)
13 SCORCH dd
15 TRIP dd as in tripping/setting off the alarm
16 ITINERANTS *(in transit e)
19 ATTACHMENT dd
20 IRON dd
23 GOES UP *(soup e.g)
25 GRAPHITE dd (lead in lead pencil)
27 IDOLATER *(tailored)
28 VESSEL dd
29 HITHERTO Cha of HIT (success) *(other)
30 CENSUS cd (using tell as in count money in the bank)
Posted in FT | No Comments »
Posted by Pete Maclean on 29th January 2009
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 10th
I had some trouble finishing this puzzle, stumped for a while by 18A and 6D. Having solved it, I think 18A is rather brilliant. And 4D is rather fine as well. However 21A and 24A are too loose for requiring one to extract an indefinite lump out of the middle of a word or phrase.
Posted in FT | 5 Comments »