Private Eye/Cyclops 351 – Up or down
There are occasions when the answer to a clue is a word or its reverse, and there is nothing in the clue to indicate which. So you end up relying on crossing checking … Read more >>
Month: November 2007
Guardian 24,219 (Sat 27 Oct)/Araucaria – Dusty answers
Solving time: 25 mins, two missing (26ac and 8dn). The ‘cloth hats’ referred to in the preamble were all reptiles (REP = ‘cloth’, TILES = ‘hats’), though unless KOMODO DRAGON at 19dn/29ac (my … Read more >>
Azed 1848 – never did the pogo
I was bamboozled by the NW corner and had to resort to an email friend (in this case, PeterB) largely because I fell into the trap of RUMBA for our Cuban dance at … Read more >>
Independent 6567/Phi
Across 1 hidden reversed in “BritiSH CASt” – Hans SACHS is a character in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg and, I was surprised to discover, an actual real life person. 4 KEW,IS in … Read more >>
Guardian Friday 2.11.07/Chifonie
Solving time : 22 minutes. This is a fairly quick time for me, which is probably why I quite enjoyed this. I wonder about some of the assessments under the tab “Setters” above. Tees the … Read more >>
Independent 6562/Nimrod
Across 8 PEN,PUS,HER – I don’t understand what “Caribbean estate” is and how it links to PEN, if at all. 9 NO,TED – “observed” is the definition, the rest of the clue is … Read more >>
Inquisitor 43 – NAIRO by Loda
Solving time: 1.5 – 2 hours – Chambers used for 25D only There was early mention of this puzzle on Derek Harrison’s message board, which indicated that one of the green squares was … Read more >>
FT 12,604/Aardvark
Was relieved to avoid an overly-taxing puzzle today, as I think recent sleep deprivation is catching up on me. A couple of good though-provoking devices nestled away in here, though. My parsing of … Read more >>
Independent 6566 / Nimrod – Clever Stuff
Solving Time: 20 minutes The usual clever puzzle from Nimrod that was ejoyable to solve with some good laugh-out-loud clues. ACROSS (* = ANAG / (cd) = Cryptic definition / (R) = Reversal) … Read more >>
Guardian 24223/Orlando
Solving time – about half an hour in two sessions. I started off quite quickly and had half of it done within 5 minutes, but then ground to a halt and had to … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 924 by Quixote
I found this easier than usual. Solving time: 14 mins. Notes on some clues below – happy to explain others if asked. * = anagram ACROSS 11 TOAST Double definition 13 APPLE … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,594 by Cinephile
Cinephile is well on form with this fine themed puzzle. Most of the across clues include “beast” and have answers that start with names of animals. This was an easier theme to work … Read more >>