Independent on Sunday 930 by Quixote
I found this quite an easy puzzle – solving time 15 mins but there’s one I do not understand. Notes on some clues below, including that one. Happy to explain others if asked … Read more >>
Month: December 2007
Financial Times 12,630 by Cincinnus
This puzzle is the most difficult Cincinnus I can remember tackling, not hard across the board but very challenging in a few places. Did others find it unusually tough as well? Across 1. … Read more >>
FT 12,639/Cinephile – Slugs and snails and puppy dogs’ tails…
Even though the “theme” is pretty obvious, on immediate inspection of the clues, the category itself (boys’ names) is pretty expansive. So it still took me a few minutes to figure out the last couple … Read more >>
Independent 6601 by Dac
A pleasing puzzle by Dac. Solving time: 18 mins * = (anagram)* < = reversed ACROSS 1 DEF (l = L) ECT Excellent misleading surface 11 RO (A) ST (i) … Read more >>
Guardian 24,258, Araucaria: Blues and Royals
A pretty tough one this, took a good half hour and left me in doubt about the wordplay of two clues, including the main theme-word. But I think I’m there now. I thought … Read more >>
Independent 6600/Virgilius — The Man Killers
Another highly thematic puzzle from Virgilius. In this case all the down answers can be seen as dangerous women. Corrections and clarifications are in italics. Across 9 AZORES — “as oars” 14 ENAMEL … Read more >>
Guardian 24257 / Chifonie Labour of Love
Solving time: 12 minutes. Solving a Chifonie puzzle often seems to me like a labour of love. Nice when you finish, but you don’t get the feeling of accomplishment that you do with … Read more >>
Language and libertarianism
I think we need a new term for a particular kind of clue – the ones which rely on a word in the clue being split into its component parts, in the way that all crosswords … Read more >>
Guardian 24256/Rufus
Solving time 10:07 Sorry for the lateness of the post, but I’ve been away from the computer all day and only just got round to solving it. Typical Rufus with lots of cryptic … Read more >>
Independent 6599 by Punk – Nation States
One of those themed crosswords where a large number of the clues draw their definition from one of the other clues (in this case 11 across). With this type of puzzle, you either … Read more >>
Guardian Genius Puzzle 53 / Locum One man’s homophone….
Solving time: 24 minutes. One I tackled while in hospital. Although it wasn’t the most satisfying of puzzles, it held me while I worked out whether each of the homophone double answers could … Read more >>
Azed 1853: Liberté, Egalité, Sororité
A mixed bag of clues from Azed this week — some that were pretty easy, and a few that held me up for a while. I had to think hard about 31a, and … Read more >>
FT 12,635/Sleuth
A well-balanced, but not too daunting puzzle. Just what the Doctor ordered for the morning-after-the-office-party, in my case. Across 1 UN,OBTR(U)SI,VE(-t) – Phew, glad we got that three-line, thirteen word clue out of … Read more >>
Guardian 24254/Taupi
I’m a bit short of time today so this will be a less detailed than usual entry. Apologies in advance etc… Across 1 LITTLE TOE – I put in LITTLE PIG at first, … Read more >>
Independent 6592/Phi
I’d read four or five clues before I realised that something odd was going on and at first I thought the wrong grid had been printed. Then I spotted that there was no … Read more >>