Posted by Gaufrid on 28th October 2009
A very enjoyable puzzle from Cinephile today, made easier by the horse racing theme which was fairly simple to determine from the first reference in 9a but as I was doing the clues in reverse order it was 23d that gave the game (or rather sport) away.
Posted in FT | 2 Comments »
Posted by Gaufrid on 27th October 2009
I’ve mixed views about this one. For example I liked the anagram indicators ‘snarled’ in 12a and ‘reprise’ in 20d but was unhappy with 22a and 23d as indicated below. I was also a little concerned about the wordplay in 2d and 6d in that, whilst accurate, it was somewhat convoluted.
Posted in FT | 4 Comments »
Posted by John on 27th October 2009
How clever. All the across answers except 16ac consist of something repeated, as indicated by 16ac (DOUBLE-DEALING). Quite an achievement to fit them all in, so one can be lenient about the obscurity of 9ac and possibly 27ac. And Merlin has with only one or two exceptions managed to use pretty normal words for the down answers. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 13 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 27th October 2009
dd = double definition
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram
Posted in Guardian | 20 Comments »
Posted by NealH on 26th October 2009
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 11 Comments »
Posted by Ciaran McNulty on 26th October 2009
Perhaps aided by a bit more sleep than normal, I found this fairly quick-going but with a few unsatisfying clues.
Posted in Guardian | 27 Comments »
Posted by beermagnet on 26th October 2009
One of those where most went in easily but I had to put myself to bed before a couple in the top left corner, so they had to wait till the next morning.
I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve misunderstood the wordplay on some.
Some particularly fine surface readings throughout this puzzle. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Private Eye/Cyclops | 4 Comments »
Posted by Arthur on 25th October 2009
Another one that took a little while to get going but then got much easier. Not my favourite ever, but probably pretty fair throughout. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Everyman | 7 Comments »
Posted by ilancaron on 25th October 2009
Not as many impenetrable wordplays (note to self: must improve wordplay decoding). I’m sure once this is posted, someone will put us quickly out of our misery and reveal all. I will say that I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for the competition clue — not realizing this was a plain Azed.
Across Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Azed | 9 Comments »
Posted by Simon Harris on 24th October 2009
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
Posted in Beelzebub | No Comments »
Posted by Gaufrid on 24th October 2009
I have been informed that, due to the postal strike, the closing date for most Indy prize puzzles is going to be extended by a week as from this weekend.
Posted in Independent | 4 Comments »
Posted by rightback on 24th October 2009
Posted in Guardian | 11 Comments »
Posted by Gaufrid on 24th October 2009
The subsidiary indication in each clue leads to an extra letter. These letters indicate the source of two questions (the second of which WAS rhetorical) and reveal a recent and unresolved problem (from which two of the unclued grid entries may be deduced).
Posted in Enigmatic Variations | 2 Comments »
Posted by petebiddlecombe on 24th October 2009
By the time you read this I’ll be on holiday, so I won’t be able to respond to any questions myself. I finished this in 8:36 so found it fairly easy for a Saturday prize puzzle, but there’s lots of entertainment, and a weekend theme, with the overnight bag, dirty weekend and Sunday best. Knowing that Nestor very often has a puzzle somewhere in the Times championships, I was solving as fast as I could as an early bit of practice for next year, so wrote in seven answers without full wordplay understanding – 1, 9, 10, 22, 24, 2, 7.
Posted in Independent | 7 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 23rd October 2009
Quite tricky for a Phi puzzle, enjoyable as always, solving time, 30 mins
Posted in Independent | 7 Comments »
