Posted by scchua on 19th December 2011
‘Tis the time of the year, when crosswords, like other things, get Christmas-y. This one gives a gentle start to the festivities – no hangover and no indigestion, so to speak! Thanks Nutmeg, for the great surfaces and one super &lit. And a Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays to all and yours. Definitions are underlined in the clues. The picture set at the bottom has an unidentified connection with the crossword, and within itself (easier than the last one, I think).
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Posted in Guardian Quiptic | 8 Comments »
Posted by Eileen on 19th December 2011
Since I started blogging, just over three years ago, this is the third Rufus pre-Christmas puzzle that has fallen to me and, once again, Rufus has managed to include a seasonal allusion in every one of the clues, which is no mean feat, and it raised a few smiles.
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Posted in Guardian | 31 Comments »
Posted by beermagnet on 19th December 2011
The festive season seems to have started early in the Eye with a couple of pantomimes opening.
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Posted in Private Eye/Cyclops | 1 Comment »
Posted by Jed on 18th December 2011
This compiler never disappoints – wonder how many people agree
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Posted in Beelzebub | 3 Comments »
Posted by bridgesong on 18th December 2011
I’m feeling even more well disposed towards Azed (and the Observer) this week than usual, having been fortunate enough to win a prize in one of the weekly competitions recently (still waiting to win a prize in the monthly competition, though). What was really refreshing was that the booktokens arrived by the Saturday, before the results had even been published!
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Posted in Azed | 4 Comments »
Posted by Pierre on 18th December 2011
My last IoS blog was a Raich, and I bag another here, which I don’t mind at all. An accessible Sunday Prize Crossword, which I enjoyed.
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Posted in Independent | 6 Comments »
Posted by Pierre on 18th December 2011
A well-constructed entry-level puzzle from Everyman this morning, with a nice range of cluing devices and some pleasing surfaces. Perfect for beginning and improving solvers.
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Posted in Everyman | 2 Comments »
Posted by beermagnet on 17th December 2011
After the usual gulp upon seeing Nimrod at the top of the Prize Puzzle when on blogging duty this turned out to be less evil than many of his puzzles – at least to get started. The number of clues solved on first pass was into double figures (!) but that includes the wrong answers. I spotted the Nina far too late for it to offer a lot of help – though it did allow me to find that pesky last answer (14).
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Posted in Independent | 8 Comments »
Posted by Eileen on 17th December 2011
I think Araucaria must be saving himself for his Christmas Special – and that’s something to look forward to! This was a pleasant enough puzzle to solve but there were a lot of easy charades and insertions [8,9,12,19,23ac and 1,6,22dn, for instance] and it didn’t last nearly so long, for me, as his Prize puzzles usually do. There weren’t really any ‘aha’ moments and, altogether, I’m afraid, for me, one of Araucaria’s most loyal fans, it lacked the usual sparkle. The only one that caused any head-scratching / research was 21ac.
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Posted in Guardian | 19 Comments »
Posted by Mister Sting on 17th December 2011
The preamble doesn’t give very much away: 12 normal clues, the answers to which require ‘adjustment’. The other clues must have a letter removed before solving. The last sentence includes the always-worrying “numbers in brackets indicate the length of grid spaces”. When you don’t know how long a clue has to be – or (much the same thing) which clues are or are not the length indicated, it makes it that much harder. Just what does Jacques have in store?
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Posted in Enigmatic Variations | 1 Comment »
Posted by shuchi on 16th December 2011
A puzzle of two halves for me. The bottom filled in fast while the top remained blank, till 7a gave me a breakthrough after looking up the French word for ‘queen’.
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Posted in FT | 10 Comments »
Posted by John on 16th December 2011
For some reason I was unusually quick on this crossword, solving over half the clues on an initial read-through, something that doesn’t often happen. So I would say what a nice crossword, wouldn’t I. None of the answers then held me up for any length of time — although 3dn was a little tricky and I didn’t immediately understand it. And I shall have to check 4dn because the people, probably Shakespearean, are not ones I’m all that clear about.
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Posted in Independent | 11 Comments »
Posted by duncanshiell on 16th December 2011
I tend to associate Friday with the more challenging end of the Guardian puzzle spectrum, so I was slightly surprised to see a Gordius crossword when I logged onto the Guardian website this morning.
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Posted in Guardian | 29 Comments »
Posted by Ringo on 15th December 2011
I’d been feeling a little jaded with the world of cryptics lately (cue violins)… but the wonderful Arachne in the Guardian yesterday and Orense here today have quite restored my faith. How’s that for a heartwarming advent tale? Anyway, no Christmas allusions here from Orense (save for a nod to the nativity in the surface of 14ac.), and nothing too difficult – but ingenious clueing from top to bottom.
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Posted in FT | 3 Comments »
Posted by flashling on 15th December 2011
Arachne yesterday in the Guardian transforms to Anarche in the Indy today.
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Posted in Independent | 13 Comments »