We always look forward to tackling Anax puzzles, albeit with a slight sense of trepidation at the devilish nature of his clueing. This lived up to our expectations, and despite some unusual words, it seemed a little easier than some previous offerings.

Read the rest of this entry »

This puzzle had what seemed a rather daunting preamble: across entries intersecting the unclued 12D had to lose ‘something’ which could be construed as a ‘mistake’, replaced by a letter to help form 12D, and leaving real words in all cases. In addition, there were two other thematic entries, clued without definition, which represented a third type of ‘No no’.  On first reading there seemed to be something missing – where is the ‘second’ level between the initial ‘mistakes’ and the ‘third’ type of ‘no-no’?

Read the rest of this entry »

I have been lucky to get to blog yet another Araucaria holiday special – this one is delightful!

Read the rest of this entry »