Posted by Eileen on 27th July 2011
My second Araucaria blog in less than a week. I’ve learned a couple of new words, where the cluing fortunately made them gettable, and wrestled with several of Araucaria’s characteristic long clues, which took twice as long as getting the answer – but we’re used to that. There were fewer outrageous liberties than last week, I think, but some might find 1dn a step too far!
Posted in Guardian | 40 Comments »
Posted by RatkojaRiku on 27th July 2011
Crosophile had the edge over me this morning, I have to say. Having only blogged one of his puzzles until today, I have not yet fully fathomed how this setter’s mind works. Perhaps end-of-term fatigue is setting in for me on the solving front as well as on the work front.
Posted in Independent | 10 Comments »
Posted by Hihoba on 27th July 2011
After reading how disappointed Chalicea was that HolyGhost found her puzzle easy, I’m a bit hesitant about saying that this was one of my quicker Inquisitor solves. The clues seemed very straightforward, and the theme dropped out of the two letter choices pretty easily. Having said that, I found it an entertaining and nicely constructed puzzle.
Posted in Inquisitor | 3 Comments »
Posted by Ali on 26th July 2011
I had a certain sense of deja-vu with this one. Much like Phi’s recent pasta puzzle, I solved the key clue (22A) fairly early on and managed to get a fair few of the thematic across answers in, but after that it became a bit of a thesaurus hunt trying to get the more obscure dogs and the (no doubt unavoidably) tougher down clues.
Posted in Independent | 12 Comments »
Posted by scchua on 26th July 2011
This was a pleasant puzzle, thanks to Armonie. Got held up a little with the last couple, but no trouble in the end. (Definitions are underlined in the clues)
Posted in FT | 3 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 26th July 2011
Very entertaining morning exercise that shouldn’t give too much problems. Thankfully, no obscure village in some remote part of Devon. I found (or I like to think I found) I have been pleasantly seduced.
Posted in Guardian | 32 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 25th July 2011
I found this was an extremely easy puzzle in the Quixote style familiar from the IoS before he moved back to the main paper. One of my fastest solves of the year so far, just 12 minutes.
Posted in Independent | 7 Comments »
Posted by Big Dave on 25th July 2011
I have managed to avoid reviewing earlier Quiptics by Nutmeg. This was far too difficult for a supposedly easy puzzle and I derived very little pleasure from solving it.
Posted in Guardian Quiptic | 12 Comments »
Posted by duncanshiell on 25th July 2011
I am standing in this morning for Andrew who is unavailable. I suppose I was expecting a puzzle from Rufus this morning, but as we see, this is an offering from Brendan.
Posted in Guardian | 27 Comments »
Posted by Simon Harris on 24th July 2011
A fairly tough week, I found. Completed this in several bouts over the course of the week, finally hitting the books in order to get the puzzle blogged today. I can’t quite see the wordplay for 7dn.
Posted in Beelzebub | 4 Comments »
Posted by jetdoc on 24th July 2011
Abject apologies again for the delay — knowing all the other pressures on my time over the past week, I should really have organised a swap for this one; but I thought I’d be able to fit it in.
Posted in Independent | 9 Comments »
Posted by The Trafites on 24th July 2011
Posted in Everyman | 9 Comments »
Posted by John on 24th July 2011
The usual good crossword from Azed. It took me much the same time as I always take, which suggests that it wasn’t particularly difficult, but with all the endless thumbing of Chambers so that everything was OK for this blog, I was less than fast. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Azed | 5 Comments »
Posted by bridgesong on 23rd July 2011
With help from my friend Timon, this took us less than an hour to complete, although getting started took me longer than usual. No particular theme (as far as I can see) but the usual mix of brilliance and liberties. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Guardian | 20 Comments »
Posted by twencelas on 23rd July 2011
What has Tyrus in store for us?
A very topical puzzle indeed considering the antics of the gutter press and those who inhabit the gutters that the general public seem to find so interesting. Apart from the obvious references in the clues (6 across was a particular favourite) and technically breaches a 5 down!, there are numerous associations to be inferred in the answers.
Posted in Independent | 8 Comments »
