August 2008 – Page 2 – Fifteensquared

Independent 6822/Dac

August 27, 2008 at 11:35 am by John

The usual excellent crossword from Dac, hard enough (it took a while to get started), but not too hard. Everything, apart from one answer, went in slowly but regularly. Across 1 MALAGA — … Read more >>

Independent 6,821/Virgilius – Numbers game

August 26, 2008 at 2:31 pm by Ali

This was a belter of a puzzle, with every clue containing the word ‘number’. The fact that this word can be interepreted in, ahem, a number of different ways (quantity, music, anaesthetic, etc.), … Read more >>

Guardian 24,477 – Araucaria

August 26, 2008 at 5:20 pmAugust 26, 2008 at 11:19 am by Ciaran McNulty

A bit later than normal today sorry, I had noticed I was meant to be solving on Tuesday but had internalised this as ‘the second day of the week’, which the Bank Holiday … Read more >>

Financial Times 12856 / Quark

August 26, 2008 at 11:08 amAugust 26, 2008 at 8:32 am by C G Rishikesh

I completed left top corner first and then the right top. At the end of the allotted time, some gaps existed in the left bottom corner (22a, 29a, 18d). 26d was also yet … Read more >>

Guardian 24,469 (Sat 16 Aug)/Taupi – Leave of absence

August 25, 2008 at 5:14 pm by rightback

Solving time: Forgot to write down, but about 8 minutes I think This is my first blog for a few weeks, so thank you very much to bridgesong and Uncle Yap who have … Read more >>

Independent 6820 by Hypnos

August 25, 2008 at 2:23 pm by NealH

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed I found this very difficult, particularly the bottom right hand corner. There were two or three I didn’t understand and a few obscure words (tosh, lig) that I hadn’t come … Read more >>

Guardian 24,476/Rufus

August 25, 2008 at 2:29 pmAugust 25, 2008 at 12:02 pm by Andrew

A straightforward Rufus for Bank Holiday Monday. A couple of nice cryptic definitions, and a couple more I’m not so keen on. Key: dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition * = … Read more >>

Azed 1890 – Placeholder

August 25, 2008 at 2:26 am by tilsit

I’ll be back a bit later today with the blog on this puzzle.

FINANCIAL TIMES 12,853 by VIKING

August 22, 2008 at 7:51 pm by Gaufrid

It’s now well past 7pm and the scheduled blogger hasn’t put in an appearance so here is a substitute. As this has been prepared in some haste there are not many comments. . … Read more >>

Independent 6,818/Phi

August 22, 2008 at 12:28 pm by Ali

A mercifully gentle end to a tough week. There were one or two answers I wasn’t immediately sure about, but solid clueing as always from Phi. Across 1 SACK – Straight DD to … Read more >>

Independent 6813/Nimrod

August 22, 2008 at 11:30 am by neildubya

I somehow managed to finish this, despite the half dozen or so clues that I filled in without really knowing why. Offers of enlightenment gratefully received. Across 1/4 IN POLE POSITION – I … Read more >>

Guardian 24,474/Gordius

August 22, 2008 at 12:01 pmAugust 22, 2008 at 9:54 am by Andrew

I don’t much like this grid, with its four almost-isolated corners. Luckily there were enough easyish clues in each corner to get me going, though the SE corner held me up for a … Read more >>

Inquisitor 85 LOTTERY by Schadenfreude

August 22, 2008 at 5:00 am by Hihoba

Good stuff from Schadenfreude. Educational too! I spotted BARTHOLOMEW and hence the theme for the “complete set” early which made it fairly simple to fill in the most of the lights. The exception was … Read more >>

Independent 6817 by Tees

August 21, 2008 at 12:05 pm by nmsindy

This was very tough indeed. I found the NW quadrant absolutely fiendish, but got there in the end. Solving time, 67 minutes. As in previous puzzles by Tees, this draws on very wide … Read more >>

Financial Times No. 12,852 Set by FLIMSY, August 21, 2008

August 21, 2008 at 10:32 am by Octofem

I have to say I found this a boring puzzle with some clues so obvious that I yawned. 6d made me think for a while, and 13a held me up until I remembered … Read more >>