Guardian 24,629 (Sat 21 Feb)/Araucaria – Georgia off my mind
Posted by rightback on 28th February 2009
Posted in Guardian | 18 Comments »
Archive for February, 2009
Financial Times 13,012 / Sleuth
Posted by Gaufrid on 27th February 2009
A relatively gentle end to the working week. Nothing obscure apart from, possibly, the Spanish poet and dramatist at 24a and the Italian frothy custard at 14d. There was a strong temptation to enter ‘gesticulating’ for 8d but then 26a would have been impossible to solve. I liked the misdirection in 19d because ‘pink’ originally had me thinking about carnations but I’m not sure I’m too happy with the use of ‘obscured’ as an anagram indicator in 15a.
Posted in FT | 5 Comments »
Beelzebub 992 (22/02/09)
Posted by Simon Harris on 27th February 2009
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
Posted in Beelzebub | No Comments »
Independent 6979 – Phi
Posted by Ciaran McNulty on 27th February 2009
My first venture into blogging about the Independent, and an enjoyable puzzle to start with! Plenty of good surfaces and not too many unfamiliar words (1dn and 23ac being the only times I had to reach for the dictionary).
Posted in Independent | 8 Comments »
Independent 6974/Nestor (Prize puzzle 21-02-09)
Posted by neildubya on 27th February 2009
Top-notch puzzle from Nestor which, annoyingly, I was unable to finish. I really should be able to get 3 as it’s only a short word but 6 is more of a mystery. Any enlightenment received with gratitude. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 13 Comments »
Guardian 24,634/Arachne
Posted by Andrew on 27th February 2009
A mostly enjoyable and not-difficult-for-a-Friday puzzle. A couple of strange clues with obscure but irrelevant references (10ac, 7dn) and a couple of weaknesses (18ac,9dn) Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Guardian | 45 Comments »
Inquisitor 112 Bottoms Up by Loda
Posted by Colin Blackburn on 27th February 2009
Even more minimal blog as I’m on holiday. I’ve not commented on the clues but as usual Loda’s clues were very good, except 13 where there is either a mistake or I’m missing something.
Posted in Inquisitor | 5 Comments »
Enigmatic Variations 850: Bells by Gioconda
Posted by Dave Hennings on 27th February 2009
Subsidiary indications in 32 clues lead to extra letters which spell out a novel and its author. The remaining ten clues lack definitions and, either alone or paired, are thematic. 22A is a character from the novel. It all sounded very straightforward, and indeed it was. The unclued entries didn’t mean much to me until (Lord) PETER WIMSEY began to materialise at 22A. I then saw that the extra letters that I had gave enough of a clue to THE NINE TAILORS DOROTHY LEIGH SAYERS, a book I hadn’t read (but am in the process of reading now). I knew it was about bell-ringing (so the title of the puzzle wasn’t very cryptic) and I guessed the thematic entries must be bells featured in the story. An Internet search enabled me to confirm this.
Posted in Enigmatic Variations | No Comments »
Independent 6,978/Punk
Posted by Ali on 26th February 2009
More enviably entertaining, inventive stuff from Mr Cryptica. There’s plenty to admire here as always, with 21A and 20D being the standouts for me. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 7 Comments »
Financial Times 13,011 / Bradman
Posted by Gaufrid on 26th February 2009
I always enjoy one of the Don’s crosswords and this was no exception. Some clever clues and I particularly liked 28a even though it went in on the first pass. 19a, 22a, 5d, 7d and 20d are also worthy of a special mention.
.
.
.
Across
1 COUNTERBID COUNT (noble) *(BRIDE)
7 CORE homophone of ‘corps’ (division of army)
9 DONG DON (Bradman) G (good)
10 ON THE CARDS *(HOT DANCERS)
11 BARSAC BAR (pub) homophone of ‘sack’ (another, white wine)
12 LOCATION AC (bill) reversed in LOTION (skin preparation)
13 CALLISTO CALL (name) I (one) ST (way) O (round)
15 IOTA O (nothing) in ITA (child’s alphabet)
17 PANG PAN (face) G[rimace]
19 TOILETTE TOIL (hard work) TT (avoiding booze) in EE (middle of week)
22 BURNOUSE BURN ‘OUSE
23 PADAUK PAD (home) AUK (bird)
25 SEPARATIST A RAT (a deserter) IS in SEPT (clan)
26 BLIP B[looming] LIP (cheek)
27 STAY ST[r]AY (wander off not right)
28 TREE-HUGGER both ‘Thelma’ and ‘Sasha’ contain the name of a tree
Posted in FT | 6 Comments »
Guardian 24,633 – Araucaria
Posted by Ciaran McNulty on 26th February 2009
An interesting theme today, and luckily for me something I managed to guess early on – I suspect it’d be somewhat impenetrable if you can’t guess what BG stands for (I’ve assumed British Game [It's been pointed out in the comments that 'ball game' is more likely]), and there’s precious little else to help you along until you get there!
Posted in Guardian | 43 Comments »
Independent on Sunday 993 by Quixote (22 Feb 2009)
Posted by nmsindy on 26th February 2009
I found this trickier than usual, solving time, 26 mins. RHS much harder than LHS
Posted in Independent | No Comments »
FT 13,002 – Falcon
Posted by Uncle Yap on 26th February 2009
Monday Prize Crossword on 16 February 2009
dd = double definition
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram
Posted in FT | 2 Comments »
Financial Times 13,001 by Gozo
Posted by Pete Maclean on 26th February 2009
Posted in FT | 3 Comments »
FT 13,010/Dogberry
Posted by smiffy on 25th February 2009
Unless my mind if failing me once more it’s been a case of “long time/no see” from Dogberry. Regardless, I found this puzzle typically 25A.
Posted in FT | 11 Comments »