Posted by Arthur on 24th October 2010
Having posted fortnightly for almost exactly 18 months, and with various other commitments coming to the fore, I won’t be posting on here any more, and so, unless there is no forthcoming replacement blogger, this is likely to be my last post (for the time being anyway). And a nice, gentle send-off it was too. I had to check ‘ordinary’ had a heraldic meaning and confirm Nervo was one of The Crazy Gang, but otherwise all very straightforward. Thanks to everyone who has commented (and put me right when I headed off course!) and to Everyman for his crosswords. I will, of course, continue to solve them when I get a free Sunday. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Everyman | 4 Comments »
Posted by rightback on 23rd October 2010
Solving time: 8½ minutes
A good puzzle from Paul which I made considerably more difficult for myself with a wrong answer at 1ac. There were several cross-referenced clues, including a couple of related Europeans at 16ac/22sn and 19dn/14ac.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Guardian | 14 Comments »
Posted by Ali on 23rd October 2010
Nimrod’s been in for a bit of stick with some of his recent Indy puzzles, but I doubt that there’s anything in here to create such a fuss. This was a good, tough, prize puzzle with solid clueing. Too tough for me in places, so I’ll need to defer to the great and good for help on one or two clues. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 20 Comments »
Posted by Mister Sting on 23rd October 2010
This brought back happy memories of the very first EV that I completed. That one also used this format (splitting the grid into quarters). It wasn’t that long ago, so if you’ve been doing these for a while, you’ll probably remember it. I do, however, tend to be a little nervous around anything that threatens a lot of ‘cold’ solving, though. The worry is that one won’t build up the necessary escape velocity/achieve critical mass/other misplaced physics metaphor and that the connections that aid one along (assuming that one needs a small hint to discover what the ancient Egyptians called the soul) won’t be forthcoming.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Enigmatic Variations | 1 Comment »
Posted by John on 22nd October 2010
A tour de force from Phi today as he incorporates nothing but 24 11s in the across clues, has a normal-looking grid, and no strange words in the down clues. One or two of the 24 11s are less than well-known, but gettable nevertheless.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 10 Comments »
Posted by manehi on 22nd October 2010
Due to the earlier site access problems, manehi sent me a copy of his analysis but without a preamble. As I have been too busy getting the site back on-line to do this puzzle I am unable to comment myself. Gaufrid
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Guardian | 20 Comments »
Posted by C G Rishikesh on 22nd October 2010
As Shuchi is not available today, I am writing this, so the blog stays in India!
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FT | 10 Comments »
Posted by Admin on 22nd October 2010
Apologies for the site being unavailable from early yesterday evening until about 11am today. The hosting company suspended the 15² account due to a claimed excessive cpu usage which was supposedly causing performance problems. Normal service (ie posts for today’s puzzles) will be resumed as soon as possible.
Posted in Announcements | No Comments »
Posted by smiffy on 21st October 2010
I found this a lot trickier than is typical the case from Styx, but I’m not sure that my brain is firing on all cylinders today so it could just be a reflection of that. I certainly didn’t aid my own cause by rashly throwing in a couple of plausibly tenuous (but utterly wrong) answers for a while. A few entertainingly phrased clues; I have the neighbouring clues at 16 and 17D pegged as the pick of the bunch.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FT | 4 Comments »
Posted by flashling on 21st October 2010
So it’s Eimi today, normally this would be a wake up to look for hidden stuff or clues about the date etc, but if there is anything I’ve missed it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 10 Comments »
Posted by mhl on 21st October 2010
A fairly tough puzzle from Araucaria, I thought. Well, I found that filling the grid wasn’t too difficult, but there are a few I can’t explain…
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Guardian | 43 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 21st October 2010
Monday Prize Crossword on 11 October 2010
Another no-sweater from Dante and his slick wordplay to start the FT week.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FT | 2 Comments »
Posted by Pete Maclean on 21st October 2010
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 9
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FT | 2 Comments »
Posted by Simon Harris on 20th October 2010
Goodness, this was a bit more of a bruising than I expected today. In fact I really struggled, resorting first to “Reveal Letter” and eventually to “Reveal” simply to get this post filed at a reasonable time. I’ve done my best to explain things, but I’m sure there are some gaps for commenters to fill.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 10 Comments »
Posted by Gaufrid on 20th October 2010
Normally Aardvark only puts in an appearance once a month, usually on a Wednesday, but this is his second outing in the space of two weeks.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FT | 3 Comments »