Financial Times 12,766 / Armonie
I took 30-45 minutes for this crossword. I got 4ac to begin with, but botttom-right quadrant was the first to be completed. When I began writing the draft for this blog, I had … Read more >>
Month: May 2008
Independent 6730/Mass
I found this quite hard as birds, along with trees, are not a strong point with me. I’d never heard of a 13, a 14 or a 16 but eventually got them from … Read more >>
Guardian 24386/Rufus
Rufus’s naval past seems to evident in this puzzle with numerous mentions of ships and the sea. As usual too many cryptic definitions for my taste but a few bits of clever word … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 364 – Standard Eye Fare
Erm.. I haven’t got much to say about this one. It was standard Eye/Cyclops stuff with nothing to greatly complain about, but also also not much to praise – merely workmanlike. Oh Gawd … Read more >>
Azed 1875
Azed produces these nice puzzles from time to time, although this is the first of this type I’ve seen: usually the anchor-word is vertical at the left and the two grid patterns are … Read more >>
Guardian 24,379 (Sat 3 Mar)/Crucible – Cue jumping
Solving time: 9:06 A snooker-themed puzzle by an appropriately named setter to coincide with the World Championship at the Crucible last weekend. The unclued entries consisted of all the colours (less black and … Read more >>
Independent 6728
All but three or four seemed to be the usual pleasant accessible Phi crossword, but then I became totally stuck on 11dn, 21dn perhaps, 22dn perhaps and 25ac, and eventually I had to use various … Read more >>
Independent 6723/Bannsider
Great puzzle from this highly consistent setter with a mini-theme I would never have spotted if fellow blogger nmsindy hadn’t sent me the following: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/irish/7380607.stm 6 and 12 aren’t blogged but are part … Read more >>
Guardian 24384/Brendan — say something.
As ever an excellent puzzle from Brendan. It was quickly apparent that every clue ended in “, say”. After solving a few it became clear that Brendan was using “say” in a number … Read more >>
Inquisitor 70 – ‘Armless Fun by Loda
This was a very enjoyable exercise in ‘thinking outside the box’. Solvers were told that by disregarding convention they would discover three words, and were told further that given the position of any … Read more >>
FT 12,762/ Viking – Do you Bant?
After slogging my way through yesterday’s Monk puzzle last night, I was expecting much easier fare today. However, this one was no cakewalk either, and I had to use the world of Wiki … Read more >>
Independent 6727/Mordred
I found this very tough, despite a quick start. Still not sure about 8 and 11 though. Across 1 MUGGLE in S,D – in the Harry Potter books, a MUGGLE is someone who … Read more >>
Guardian 24383: Paul — Rainbow Nation
When it’s a blogging day, I’m always happy to see that Paul is the setter, and this did not disappoint. As ever, some clever and potentially deceptive clues. Having solved 10a and 12a, … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 951 by Quixote (4 May 2008)
Solving time, 17 mins * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 8 CHAT EAU (water in French) 9 A (GAIN) ST ST = saint = good person 10 O N ICE 11 DISFAVOUR … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,752 by Falcon
Ah, my second Falcon puzzle to blog. This proved moderately easy and somehow I even dredged CHOTA PEG (19A) out of the back of my mind. I love 20D and 10D is very … Read more >>