A gentler puzzle this week than last, with nothing to frighten the horses. 12ac was a real delight, and made us think for a while about the precision of wording needed in cryptic definitions. Another enjoyable outing, so our thanks to Quixote.

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Lorraine:  We were on a coach trip to London when solving this weeks puzzle, and oddly enough passed Ludgate Hill.  I managed to work out 15d but could not put it in until we got home and confirmed it in Bradfords lists.  Unusual to see the same word clued twice, ‘Char’.  1d was the first in the grid with 15d being the last.

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Another Azed that I managed to complete almost all of quite quickly without references, though with some educated guesswork based on many years of finding obscure words in Chambers. Still, it’s none the worse for that, with the usual combination of wit and deviously elegant wordplay.

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I found this to be the toughest Beelzebub for some time, and I had only a handful solved before reaching for various aids. I think it was just the vocab that was my undoing, as the clueing is as faultless as ever.

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The pattern for me recently seems to be to make a good start and then get really, really stuck on the last couple of clues. This again happened here, with the NE corner proving particularly troublesome. Still, Beelzebub is always solvable given enough patience. 18ac was solved from the definition, and the wordplay still lacks an explanation.

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The Indy’s Prize schedule and the blogging calendar have lately coincided so that more often than not I end up with Nestor. I find his crosswords a bit easier than the likes of say, Nimrod or Anax, but as a blogger I don’t mind that – I’d rather get the answer and the wordplay than not! But this crossword turned out to have a sting in the tail. After a typical Nestor start with a few very gettable answers I got stuck with a handful left and struggled to finish.

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Solving time: 23 mins, one mistake (1dn)

This tough puzzle was a mix of good and bad, with some really clever wordplay devices and elegant surfaces intermingled with clues for which the cryptic reading is flawed. I commend the setter for his inventiveness but have to question whether the editor has really done his job properly this week (e.g. 11ac, 17ac, 20ac).

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 With ‘pencil recommended, at first’ and ‘upheaval’ threatened, I braced myself for some serious re-engineering of the grid post-solving…but in the end there was a relatively simple, but cleverly constructed, twist to the tale…

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As usual from Anax, an enjoyable solve but for the first time I have a few quibbles about one of his puzzles (though this may be down to my not understanding the relevant clues correctly).

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I couldn’t get a paper on the way to work this morning and I’m now doubtful of getting a lunch break too, so if anybody could step into the breach with a quick blog, I’d be very grateful. If not, I can hopefully get a blog up much later this evening!

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A pleasant solve. For me the right side fell first, then the bottom left and finally the top left. We do see a couple of ‘humorously entertaining’ clues for which this setter is known (e.g., 2d, 22d) but there are also some chestnuts (e.g., 30d) and some others where the surface reading is none-too-convincing but some sense can be made if a brave attempt is made (e.g., 8d, 26d). I understand  some clues only because I have seen them before and I know a little bit of life abroad: take 29a, in India few people go upstairs for retirement. I had to look up ‘Brillo’ as this brand does not seem to have come to India as yet. I had no difficulty with any of the clues though one or two (e.g., 5a, 2d) I was able to parse only as I was writing this blog.

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I can repeat almost verbatim the remarks I made about the Auster puzzle that I blogged last week: we haven’t seen Logodaedalus for a while, and this was a very easy puzzle with a lot of rather obvious charades and anagrams. There are also a few examples of his characteristic use of words in the clue that appear unchanged in the answer – see 4dn for example. (On checking, I see it’s actually not that long – his last puzzle was on 16 August.)

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Klingsor is a fairly recent addition to The Independent team and I know I’ve done his crosswords before, but I couldn’t remember what they were like and didn’t know what to expect. This turned out to be a very pleasant offering, with some excellent clues. Often the definition is cleverly concealed, as in “Could be Indian cricket side”, when it’s simply ‘Could be Indian’; what the great Mark Goodliffe I think calls ‘lift and separate’.

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A technically solid puzzle, but about as easy (and, in parts, uninspired) as the FT gets.  In fact I solved all bar two of the Acrosses straight off the bat, which had the unfortunate effect of the rendering Downs to be almost as readily solvable simply from definitions alone.

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We found this quite tricky, at least in the time available to us. There are a couple we haven’t managed to parse as yet, so clarification very much welcome as always. Although there were some neat touches (1ac was enjoyable, and the use of ‘eye’ as a theme was nice) we never quite clicked with this one, and found it rather hard going.

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