February 2008 – Page 3 – Fifteensquared

Independent 6659/Virgilius

Tue February 19, 2008 at 12:31 pm by neildubya

Make the most of this puzzle, we might not see a Virgilius next week, unless he has a few puzzles in the pipeline. Not sure if this constitutes a theme but lots of … Read more >>

Independent 6658 by Tees

Mon February 18, 2008 at 3:39 pm by NealH

* = anag, < = reversed Another very tough Monday puzzle by Tees with a slight theme of political party leaders (although Nick Clegg was either overlooked or just couldn’t be fitted into … Read more >>

Guardian 24314/Rufus

Mon February 18, 2008 at 1:18 pm by linxit

One of Rufus’s easier offerings for the most part, with some real beginners’ clues. Look at the first 4 across clues – you have easy examples of the 4 basic clue types: anagram, … Read more >>

Private Eye/Cyclops 358 – Hello Sailor!

Mon February 18, 2008 at 12:11 pm by beermagnet

A lot of comedic sailors in the puzzle answers this time, what with PRATFALL crossing with SLAPSTICK and a raft of TARS, SALTS, SAILORS, RATINGS and SEAMEN. Strangely, I hadn’t noticed this mini-theme … Read more >>

AZED 1863

Sun February 17, 2008 at 9:55 pmSun February 17, 2008 at 12:08 am by petebiddlecombe

Solving time: not recorded, but I did finish this without looking anything up. 8/11 were the last two to go in. A couple of quibbles at 12 and 35, and some of the … Read more >>

Guardian 24,307 (Sat 9 Feb)/Araucaria – Water torture

Sun February 17, 2008 at 9:11 pmSat February 16, 2008 at 12:14 am by rightback

Solving time: About 30 mins; two missing, one wrong. I made an absolute pig’s ear of this puzzle. After a slow start I unravelled most of it, but with some very dull moments … Read more >>

Independent puzzles online – an update

Fri February 15, 2008 at 3:27 pm by neildubya

Good news for those of you wanting to try the Independent cryptic – puzzles are now available online on the same day as they appear in the newspaper (Saturday puzzles are still a … Read more >>

Independent 6656 / Phi – Fairly straightforward

Fri February 15, 2008 at 2:22 pm by tilsit

Solving time: 12 minutes After yesterday’s tough Nimrod, and a generally tricky week all round in most papers, this made a nice change with a straightforward Phi challenge. 4ac was a bit of a tease … Read more >>

Guardian 24312/Brummie

Fri February 15, 2008 at 3:23 pmFri February 15, 2008 at 11:51 am by linxit

Solving time – 17:05 This started out fairly straightforward and I made good progress, thinking I was going to finish inside 10 minutes for a while. Then I got stuck in two places, … Read more >>

Independent 6651/Nestor

Fri February 15, 2008 at 11:27 am by neildubya

I found this very tough but a thoroughly enjoyable solve. Lots of great clues (my personal favourite is 12a), and a very clever touch at 19 and 20d. I’m still unsure about 17a, … Read more >>

Inquisitor 58 – EVE by Schadenfreude

Thu February 14, 2008 at 11:59 pm by duncanshiell

The preamble to the puzzle indicated that it included 12 unclued entries, four of which (11a, 35a, 22d and 24d) would represent a recent sequence in the correct order. Four pairs of the … Read more >>

Guardian 24311/Quantum

Thu February 14, 2008 at 1:53 pm by Colin Blackburn

Too many cryptic definitions for my taste. The answers I’ve not blogged are probably CDs. Quantum’s best clues here are the short simple clues rather than the CDs. * = anagram < = … Read more >>

Independent 6655/Nimrod

Thu February 14, 2008 at 11:15 am by neildubya

I found this very tough but fun. There are still a few clues that I don’t fully understand though – 10a, 25a,27a and 18d. There’s also a Valentine’s Day Nina in the unchecked … Read more >>

Independent on Sunday 939 by Quixote (10 Feb 2008)

Thu February 14, 2008 at 10:15 am by nmsindy

Not too difficult a puzzle, I thought. Solving time, 15 mins. All the four 15-letter entries were direct anagrams. Notes on some clues below – happy to explain others if asked. ACROSS 1 … Read more >>

Financial Times 12,681 by Falcon

Thu February 14, 2008 at 4:55 am by Pete Maclean

I do not recall coming across Falcon before and am almost sure I have not done a Weekend FT puzzle by this compiler. I found this particular one very easy which is a … Read more >>