Guardian 25,284 / Gordius
Posted by Eileen on 31st March 2011
Posted in Guardian | 49 Comments »
Archive for March, 2011
Independent 7,630 / Anax
Posted by RatkojaRiku on 31st March 2011
This was my first attempt at blogging an Anax puzzle, and given how challenging I always find his puzzles, panic immediately set in: while under normal circumstances I would expect to get at least close to finishing one given time, how would I fare with a tight deadline for posting facing me?
Posted in Independent | 23 Comments »
Financial Times 13,656 / Redshank
Posted by smiffy on 31st March 2011
The pipeline of puzzles for the FT must be operating on a relatively short lead-time at present, as Redshank segues several topical clue surfaces on us today (e.g. 11A, 2D, 4D). Enough nifty wordplay here to sustain me, although I felt that – on occasion – that good work was at risk of being undermined by several dead-giveaway definitions.
Posted in FT | 8 Comments »
Financial Times 13,646 by Cinephile
Posted by Pete Maclean on 31st March 2011
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of March 19
As I have probably mentioned many times, I am a long-time fan of Cinephile but all the same am very ready to criticize him. After some fifty years of compiling crosswords he can still come up with some gems — but this is not one of them. I think that 19D (GORBALS) is definitely faulty and several other clues here are questionable. The only clues I really like are 22A (RESIDUE) and 3D (SOLAR).
Posted in FT | 12 Comments »
Independent 7,629/Dac
Posted by Ali on 30th March 2011
More staggeringly good stuff from Dac. You could take pretty much every single clue here and read it as a perfectly sound, elegant, standalone sentence. Some brilliant anagrams too, 7D being may pick of the bunch. He’s beaten me with 18A though! Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 16 Comments »
Financial Times 13,655 / Monk
Posted by Gaufrid on 30th March 2011
A welcome return to the FT for Monk after an absence of nearly 18 months. I didn’t think this was as difficult as some of his previous puzzles have been, perhaps due to the assistance of the preamble, but Monk’s ability to create smooth, plausible surfaces hasn’t diminished whilst he’s been away.
Posted in FT | 10 Comments »
Guardian 25,283 – Enigmatist
Posted by Andrew on 30th March 2011
It’s been a while since we had an Enigmatist puzzle, but he’s back with a vengeance with this one. I found it very hard to get started, with the large number of cross-references, and even after getting some of the key answers I still struggled to finish it, but was pleased to get there in the end. Some of the wordplay is pretty devious, with 12ac and 14dn causing me the most trouble.
Posted in Guardian | 110 Comments »
Inquisitor 1169: Tribute by Kruger
Posted by duncanshiell on 30th March 2011
The preamble told us that just over half of the clues contain a superfluous word. The first letters of these, in clue order, spell out a tribute. The subject of this, its creators and the sentiment and broader context in which it appears should be highlighted (34 squares in total) in the completed grid.
Posted in Inquisitor | 5 Comments »
Independent 7628/Math
Posted by John on 29th March 2011
A good crossword today from Math, themed about something that is mentioned after a polite gap.
Posted in Independent | 12 Comments »
Financial Times 13654/PHSSTHPOK
Posted by scchua on 29th March 2011
This is my debut FT blog. Thought I was going to be in trouble after getting only 1 in the initial run-through. And the clue for 5D seemed to tell me something! But turned out alright in the end, with 5D my top favourite. Enjoy, as I enjoyed the puzzle (thanks PHSSTHPOK) and producing the blog! And any comments are welcome.
Posted in FT | 6 Comments »
Guardian 25282 Araucaria – Unofficial like Chang & Eng
Posted by Uncle Yap on 29th March 2011
What a lovely duty I have today, blogging the Master with his unpredictable devices that stretch Ximenean limits and torture his clients delightfully … don’t we all have this masochistic streak?
A most enjoyable and entertaining puzzle.
Posted in Guardian | 42 Comments »
Independent 7627 / Phi
Posted by Gaufrid on 28th March 2011
It was something of a surprise to see Phi on a Monday, Eimi must have something interesting lined up for April 1st.
Posted in Independent | 14 Comments »
Guardian Quiptic N° 593 by Arachne
Posted by PeterO on 28th March 2011
An amusing offering from the Spider Woman, notable for some fine surfaces. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Guardian Quiptic | 17 Comments »
Guardian 25,281 – Rufus
Posted by manehi on 28th March 2011
Very gentle Monday puzzle from Rufus with plenty of anagrams, double and cryptic definitions. I liked 5d and 13d.
Posted in Guardian | 31 Comments »
Private Eye/Cyclops 439 – Bad Eye
Posted by beermagnet on 28th March 2011
I found this Eye much harder than usual. It took till 20A Niggle to find a clue I could cold solve, and only had a handful in place after the first pass. The clue surfaces this time were outstanding and misled me in several places.
Posted in Private Eye/Cyclops | 1 Comment »