Financial Times 13,626 / Hamilton
Posted by Gaufrid on 24th February 2011
Posted in FT | 5 Comments »
Archive for February, 2011
Guardian 25,254 – Pasquale
Posted by Andrew on 24th February 2011
I’m always glad to see Pasquale making an appearance, though ever since his Janet Street-Porter puzzle a while back I’m also a bit nervous if he turns up on one of my blogging days. However, this one was definitely at the milder end of the spectrum, with a good smattering of easier clues to get started with, after which the rest followed without too much difficulty. There are a couple of slightly obscure words, but as always the clueing is impeccably fair and elegant so they shouldn’t have caused too much difficulty.
Posted in Guardian | 52 Comments »
Financial Times 13,617 / Crux
Posted by Agentzero on 24th February 2011
Prize Puzzle of Monday 14 February
Many clever clues from Crux, including one which is too clever for me: 26 down. Among my favourites were those with well disguised definitions: 9 across and 6 down. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FT | 4 Comments »
Financial Times 13,616 by Cinephile
Posted by Pete Maclean on 24th February 2011
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of February 12
As most of you may know, John Graham (a.k.a. Cinephile) recently had his 90th birthday. I found this puzzle of his fairly tricky. I would not say it has any great clues but I do like 6D (ABUT) and the clever clue couplings in 9-10A and 26-27D. Then there is one, 24D (TREATY), that I do not fully understand.
Posted in FT | 8 Comments »
Financial Times 13,625 by Redshank
Posted by PeeDee on 23rd February 2011
Not a difficult crossword, but a lovely one. Elegant and witty with some nice & Lits. I especially liked 27 and 28 across, 8 and 16 down, though one could easily pick others for a mention too.
Posted in FT | 17 Comments »
Independent 7599 / Dac
Posted by John on 23rd February 2011
The usual smoothly-operating crossword from Dac today. Just when you think the great man has slipped you find that in fact he hasn’t and that you’re the one who is at fault. For ‘you’ in that sentence read ‘I’. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 9 Comments »
Guardian 25,253 / Araucaria
Posted by duncanshiell on 23rd February 2011
This struck me as a typical Araucaria crossword with lots of cross-referencing between clues, lots of misdirection, a few words that many people do not use in everyday language, and one or two clues that would have strict Ximeneans in a state of great agitation. As an educational tool it was wonderful; as a crossword it was challenging and entertaining. I have learned a great deal whilst writing the blog.
Posted in Guardian | 39 Comments »
Inquisitor 1164: Descent by Raich
Posted by HolyGhost on 23rd February 2011
Raich is averaging about three Inquisitors a year since his first appearance in mid-2008, and all pretty decent ones in my opinion. (And he notched up his third Listener just the weekend before, if I’m not mistaken.)
Ten clues have an extra letter in the wordplay; in another ten the wordplay is deficient by a letter: these give two words from a quotation and a place name. Three grid entries are unclued, and eleven letters have to be highlighted in the completed grid.
Posted in Inquisitor | 9 Comments »
Independent 7598 / Anax
Posted by Gaufrid on 22nd February 2011
Perhaps it’s my imagination but was this Anax somewhat easier than usual? It certainly didn’t take long to complete.
Posted in Independent | 18 Comments »
Guardian 25252 Gordius – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Posted by Uncle Yap on 22nd February 2011
I am often perplexed by Gordius who must find it extremely difficult to NOT spoil an otherwise good set of clues with some horrible ones. One of his foibles is to throw in something totally obscure like the name of a remote village in England or someone with dubious claim to fame. Surely he badly needs a good moderator. I am afraid I found today’s puzzle very much below par.
Posted in Guardian | 72 Comments »
Financial Times 13,624 / Dante
Posted by Agentzero on 22nd February 2011
Dante, turfed out of his Monday spot this week, turns up on Tuesday. As usual, there are some excellent cd’s (30 across, 1 down). But I thought the best clues today were the double definition clues, which are becoming as much a Dante hallmark as cryptic definitions. Standouts for me in this category were 28 across, 2 down, 5 down and 19 down. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FT | 10 Comments »
More Araucaria photos
Posted by jetdoc on 21st February 2011
I have uploaded my photos (+ one from Derek) of the wonderful lunch which took place at King’s College Cambridge on Saturday. I haven’t yet had time to add captions. If anyone has some more they would like added to the set, email me directly.
Posted in Announcements | 13 Comments »
Independent 7597 by Hypnos
Posted by NealH on 21st February 2011
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 19 Comments »
Guardian 25,251 / Rufus
Posted by mhl on 21st February 2011
I thought this was a trickier-than-usual puzzle from Rufus, but very enjoyable, as ever. I think my favourite clue here was the simple and elegant 25 across. (I had the great pleasure of meeting the setter in person in Derby recently, and was even the subject of some of his magic tricks :))
Posted in Guardian | 50 Comments »
Guardian Quiptic 588/Pan
Posted by Pierre on 21st February 2011
I thought this was a super puzzle from Pan – just right for a Quiptic, with everything clearly clued and some smooth surface readings. It’s been mentioned several times since we started the Quiptic blog on Fifteensquared how difficult it is for a compiler to set an ‘easy’ puzzle, so well done to Pan today for producing this one.
Posted in Guardian Quiptic | 10 Comments »