Posted by Andrew on 22nd May 2013
It took me longer to get going on this than usual for a Chifonie, but it all came out nicely in the end, with some well-written, if uncomplicated, clues.
Posted in Guardian | 3 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 19th May 2013
I got going pretty quickly with this one, and thought it might be a bit of a walkover, but the last few clues,especially in the SE corner, slowed me to a crawl. It almost goes without saying that the clueing is of the usual high Azedian standard, but I had a couple of niggles/queries that others may be able to put me right on.
Posted in Azed | 2 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 16th May 2013
I made a slow start on this, but after thinking for a while I was going to get nowhere with it, it gradually began to yield. My breakthrough was to be led to the (literally and metaphorically) central thematic answer at 17,19,20 by getting 11,5 from the anagram. Lots of fun in the clues, as always – an enjoyable and satisfying (and tasty) feast. (Anyone trying to use the online version today will have problems, as some of the numbers in the grid are in the wrong order. I gather from comments on the Guardian website that this has also affected some copies of the printed version.)
Posted in Guardian | 37 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 10th May 2013
Gordius is appearing at strange intervals these days – he used to be fairly predictably every other week, but then we saw him on a Friday and the following Tuesday, and now today as well as last Tuesday. Regular readers will know I am not his greatest fan: I found this a little harder than some of his recent puzzles, though with no major hold-ups, and with the usual smattering of niggles.
Posted in Guardian | 36 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 29th April 2013
The usual Rufus style, which was pretty much a write-in for me today, though I’m puzzled by the construction of 20d. Not any more – see comments Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Guardian | 42 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 24th April 2013
It’s been quite a while since we saw Enigmatist on a weekday — not since 5 July last year in fact — and as always I was a little apprehensive when I saw his name. I got a few answers quickly and thought this might be one of his gentler efforts, but slowed down rather towards the end. There are a couple of clues I can’t fully parse, and I have a query about the answer given in the online version for 24a. In the interests of getting the blog published I will now hand over to m’learned friends in the comments.
Posted in Guardian | 56 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 18th April 2013
Araucaria keeps them coming (I’m glad to say – see also yesterday’s FT puzzle by his alter ego Cinephile if you haven’t already). I found this mostly quite straightforward, though with some clues where the answer was fairly obvious but the wordplay took some working out. The NW corner was the last to yield. (I’m typing this on a small laptop in a hotel room, so there may be (even) more typos than usual – apologies in advance if so.)
Posted in Guardian | 25 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 12th April 2013
A very enjoyable puzzle from Puck, with lots of clever and tricky clueing. I thought 14a was particularly good (after I realised it wasn’t just a cryptic definition), but there were many others I could point to.
Posted in Guardian | 31 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 7th April 2013
Another low- to medium-strength Azed, which didn’t keep me from my Easter eggs for too long, but provided good entertainment on the way. There seems to have been a rare lapse from strict Ximenean principles in 5d.
Posted in Azed | 2 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 1st April 2013
No April foolery here (unless I’ve been fooled..), just the usual type of puzzle we expect from Rufus; if anything rather easy even by his standards, apart from one possibly obscure word that is rather unhelpfully clued.
Posted in Guardian | 43 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 27th March 2013
Mostly following the easy trend of the week so far, though a couple of place names may be unfamiliar to some, but as always with Orlando a quality puzzle with immaculate clueing and quiet wit.
Posted in Guardian | 33 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 21st March 2013
It’s exactly a month since I last blogged a Picaroon puzzle. No technical problems this time, and fewer obscurities (last time we had NGULTRUM and EIGENVECTOR among others), but I still found it quite hard to get into; though as is often the case there didn’t seem to be anything particularly involved when I came to write it up, though there are some definitions and other elements that are nicely misleading.
Posted in Guardian | 26 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 15th March 2013
Tramp has been turning up about once a month in the Guardian recently, and I think thoroughly deserves this regular exposure. This is another high-quality puzzle, with some clever, and sometimes quite tricky, clues. There are numerous references in the clues to George Orwell’s Animal Farm (and also to farming generally), though as far as I can see there’s no further use of this theme in the answers. Thanks Tramp – nice one (again)!
Posted in Guardian | 36 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 4th March 2013
I was thinking we were about due a non-Rufus Monday, and was delighted to see Brendan’s name on this puzzle. The usual light touch – mostly not too difficult, a couple of perhaps slightly obscure words, though clearly clued.
Posted in Guardian | 42 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 3rd March 2013
After a worryingly poor showing in my first session on this one, things went much better in the second and I managed to work my way bit by bit though it, with the various extra hurdles adding both to the difficulty and to the enjoyment and satisfaction. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Guardian Genius | 6 Comments »