Guardian 24,548/Arachne
Rufus gets a Monday off to make way for a reasonably easy offering from Arachne. There are a couple of clues where I’m not sure I’ve got the explanation right, and one (27ac) … Read more >>
Month: November 2008
Azed 1902: grin and snore
A straightforward puzzle this week, with a fair proportion of unfamiliar words. Nevertheless, it’s worth making the point that Azed puzzles can in fact be easier to solve than a daily cryptic, as … Read more >>
“How to master the Times Crossword” by Tim Moorey
This is obviously more relevant for readers of another blog, but if you have friends in need of help with broadsheet dailies, it does a good job for these puzzles in general as … Read more >>
Guardian 24,541 (Sat 8 Nov)/Paul – Nit picking
Solving time: 7:44 An amusing offering from Paul, with a theme: the key clue is the one to 13dn/20ac, which yields “ASK A STUPID QUESTION”. The definitions to 10 other clues are given … Read more >>
Independent 6890 by Phi
Solving time, 14 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 DEad SO LATE 5 ST PAUL New Testament epistle writer and US city 9 REF ERR A L 10 C RUM B S 12 … Read more >>
Independent 6885/Merlin (Prize puzzle 08-11-08)
There’s a Nina here which I spotted during solving but only just worked out what it’s about. From the top left-hand corner we have GABRIELLE, BREE, SUSAN, LYNETTE and EDIE (the first E … Read more >>
Guardian 24,546/Orlando
After a rather contentious week, I was a bit apprehensive about what to expect for my blogging slot today, so it was quite a relief to get this fairly straightforward but enjoyable puzzle … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations — 836 Tribute by Loda
Solving Lest We Forget in the Independent’s Inquisitor series I mistakenly guessed that it might be about the Armistice, I was fooled. On this occasion, Remembrance Sunday, it seemed that there might be … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,925 by Viking
A mixed bag today with some very easy clues and some that required a little more thought. Overall, probably tending towards the simpler end of the FT range of difficulty (unlike yesterday’s). A … Read more >>
Inquisitor 97 – DISASTROUS EFFORT by Lato
Ho (of Hihoba) had inconsiderately gone on holiday this week, so Ba and I were left to struggle with this, and struggle we did! We worked on the normal clues for some time … Read more >>
FT 12,924, Set by Aardvark, November 13, 2008
I found some of this puzzle quite tricky, and could not discern anything in the way of a theme. Sharper minds may discover one. The bottom right corner held me up longest, with 17d … Read more >>
Guardian 24,545 – Paul
A fairly topical theme, with the Turner Prize nominees being exhibited at the moment. Like a lot of people I find this sort of puzzle, with a large set of related answers, fairly … Read more >>
Independent 6889/Scorpion
Across 1 (TIE FOR)*,PA’S,SAGE – RITE OF PASSAGE. 8 MAC’S (reversed) 9 SOMERSAULT – sounds like “summer salt”, which are both types of “season”. Not sure about “pouring out” as the homophone indicator … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 978 by Quixote (9 Nov 2008)
Not too difficult. Solving time, 16 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 U MP IRE 4 OB SERVER Nice seamless join at see/old 9 CHE RUB 10 TORT ILL A … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,915 – Falcon
From Monday Prize Crossword on 3 November 2008 dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = … Read more >>