Independent 6493/Dac
Across 1 A,CAN in VT 9 TO,FORE in LA (all reversed) – the much-mocked national carrier AEROFLOT. Excellent clue with a great surface. 11 TRADE,SCANT,AI< – last one in. I saw TRADE (for … Read more >>
Month: August 2007
Guardian 24,149/Logodaedalus – Poetic Licence
Sorry for the lateness of this post, but I was in a meeting all day and playing cricket in the evening. The clues in this puzzle read like a poem in rhyming couplets, and … Read more >>
Independent 6492 / Virgilius – Delightful stuff
Solving Time: 18 mins Due to my odd sleeping patterns with my illness, I get to solve most of the daily puzzles, and I came to Virgilius after tackling The Guardian, Times and … Read more >>
Guardian 24148/Rufus
Solving time 11:58 …the last 4 minutes of which were spent trying to think of a six-letter word to fit ?I?S?N in 22 down, because the printable version from the website didn’t give … Read more >>
Independent 6491 by Glow-worm – tough
Some original ideas in quite a tough puzzle – held up by the 22-letter entry along the top and the 13-letter one in the first column. Solving time: 30 mins * = anagram … Read more >>
Guardian Prize Crossword 24141 / Araucaria – A – Z fun!
Solving time: 20 minutes One of the easier Saturday Guardan puzzles, certainly an easier time than with Pasquale’s last week! For those looking to spread their wings beyond a normal daily puzzle, these are often … Read more >>
Coming Soon – the Beezlebub puzzle in the IoS.
From next week we shall be blogging the Beelzebub – a barred puzzle published in the Independent on Sunday magazine. It’s currently compiled by two setters – Phi and Columba – and is usually … Read more >>
Guardian Genius No. 49 by Shed
Solving time: a couple of hours or so This was harder than it looked on the surface. I’ve been solving the Listener puzzle for a couple of years now, so clues with a … Read more >>
Guardian 24146/Arachne
Solving time – 15:41 This started off very easy and I had most of the top half finished in a couple of minutes, but my momentum slipped away and I eventually ground to … Read more >>
Independent 6489/Nimrod
Fairly easy puzzle from Nimrod, although getting the 3 long down clues early on definitely helped. Across 3 WAS< in WARP,ACT – “pervert”is a verb here, rather than a noun. 8 SCOREBOARD – … Read more >>
Independent 6484 (28-07-07)/Monk – Never Straightforward
Very entertaining puzzle from Monk. Of course, it wouldn’t be Monk with a Nina of some sort and I spotted this one once I solved 17/18/19A – the unchecked letters in the top … Read more >>
Inquisitor 30 Group Dynamics by Quixote
An unintentional train journey led me to buy the Independent on a Saturday and solve most of this puzzle on the way home (London to Durham so not that fast!) Then a forgetful … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 911 by Quixote
Some unusual features in this. Solving time: 30 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 A W(i)RY Thought of ‘awry’ as a possibility from the start, but took much longer to confirm through the … Read more >>
Independent 6488 / Punk No-balls prize!
Solving Time: 23 mins A nice puzzle for a Thursday from Punk. I really liked the big clue at 8/12 several of the other answers. Fairly large smattering of cryptic defs today … Read more >>
Guardian 24145 Auracaria Full sail ahead!
Across 1 ROMULUS founder of Rome, and I otherwise have no idea what the clue means. (Hangs head in shame.) 5 CHAR QUI is a sort of South American dried meat jerky. Char … Read more >>