Guardian 24,532/Orlando
Quite a gentle one today after Brendan’s toughie on Monday, and maybe it suffers in comparison to Paul’s Beatlefest yesterday, but some nice clues here, though as ever I have a couple of … Read more >>
Month: October 2008
Independent 6875 by Eimi
A puzzle in Eimi’s very individual style, which I found quite easy – solving time, 15 mins. Quite a few references in clues that I was not personally familiar with, but these did … Read more >>
Guardian 24,531 – Paul
dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram What a nostalgic trip down memory lane … Read more >>
Financial Times 12910 / Jason
I had a slow start but managed to complete the puzzle in reasonable time. Last to fall was top right corner. Clue 17 ac is excellent but some clues (e.g., 4 ac) are … Read more >>
Independent 6874 by Hypnos
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone An enjoyable puzzle with nothing very controversial. Only one clue I didn’t entirely follow (19 down). Across 1 Toll: To L[iverpoo]l. 3 Able Seaman: (Same banal)* around e. 9 … Read more >>
Guardian 24,530 – Brendan
Quite tricky for a Monday, in my opinion. A minor theme of -ee suffixes (9A, 12A, 30A, 17D, 18D) and the little square of three-letter words around the centre was quite interesting. Lots … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 376 – Suckers
Some particularly nice anagram clues this time. Across 7 ROOST ROO,ST 9 SCAPEGOAT S,CAPE,GOAT 10 MASTER-KEY (MEERKAT’S)* Y AInd: screwed Favourite clue: Penetrator of more than one hole, meerkat’s screwed an unknown quantity … Read more >>
Guardian 24,523 (Sat 18 Oct)/Araucaria – Hair apparent
Solving time: 12:56 I probably found this a little easier than usual for Araucaria, until I came to the last three clues (EMBRYO, MULCT and STEEL [BLUE]) which took a fair chunk of … Read more >>
Azed 1899/19th October
A nice crossword from Azed, with several good clues. His grids are always excellent: how he manages to fit in so many long words and avoid using three-letter-words I don’t know. Across 1 STARCH BLOCKER — … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,907 by Viking
It doesn’t look as if Smiffy is going to be able to join us today. He must be otherwise occupied, or his pc has crashed, so here is a brief analysis of today’s … Read more >>
FT 12,906 Set by Falcon. October 23, 2008
A day late (Blame the uploaders!) Quite a pleasant puzzle but I personally would prefer fewer Proper nouns. Late in the morning – blame me. I typed it all and then managed to … Read more >>
Independent 6872 by Phi
I think this puzzle was my fastest Indy solve of the year so far, a little less than 10 mins. Word after word went in from the definitions and crossing letters – the … Read more >>
Guardian 24,528 – Araucaria
An interesting grid, dominated by four long Down clues. I managed most of it ok but came unstuck on 6D due to mis-marking it as 6,9 instead of 5,10. A lot of the … Read more >>
Independent 6867/Phi (Prize puzzle 18-10-08)
Across One of the easiest Saturday puzzles we’ve had in a long time but no less enjoyable for that. This would be a great puzzle for beginners to try as the cluing is … Read more >>
Inquisitor 94 – E-numbers by Raich
We were told that there were twenty-one special clues, seven with wordplay leading to the answer plus an extra letter, seven with wordplay leading to the answer with one letter missing and seven … Read more >>