Guardian 24,650 – Shed
(x) = removed (X) = inserted * = anagram < = reversed Across 1. COMPREHENSIBLE. COM(mon) + PREHENSI(B.)LE. 9. LYRICAL. (ju)LI(an)CLARY*. Fantastic. 10. DEBAUCH. (H CUBED + A)*. I liked the use of … Read more >>
Month: March 2009
Financial Times 13,028 / Aardvark
A pleasing challenge from Aardvark today with some nicely misleading clues and a few interesting indicators, for example ‘aperitifs’ and ‘evolution’. 6d had me looking for an anagram of ‘at her holiday inn’ … Read more >>
Independent 6,995/Dac
Tougher than usual for Dac I thought, but the fact that I had to solve this whilst standing up on a bus and trying not to fall into people probably didn’t help my … Read more >>
Independent 6994/Tees
It was with a sinking heart that I embarked on this. Despite what it says at the top of this page under SETTERS, Tees is not medium in difficulty. In fact in my … Read more >>
Guardian 24,649 – Taupi
dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram What a glorious morning solving Taupi. Many … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,027 / Jason
Two slightly tricky clues exploiting the is=’s=s ambiguity. I am unsure of the parsing of two others–any assistance is welcome! Thanks to Phi and Paul B for their help, noted below Across 1 LANDLORD … Read more >>
Guardian 24648 / Rufus
Apologies for the late posting – I forgot that I was supposed to be blogging today… Across 1. IN HOCK Double definition 5. EXTENDED Double definition 9. LIVE IT UP I’VE in LIT … Read more >>
Independent 6993 by Mass
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def An enjoyable puzzle with nothing too difficult or controversial. I couldn’t see any obvious NINA. Across 9 Orchestra: I think this is just a CD relating to … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 386 – “For Hesse a jolly good fellow”
This was again harder than most Eye crosswords with a few very tough clues. I had trouble in the bottom half – and particular trouble with number 2. Across 1 LAMB CHOP LAMB … Read more >>
Azed 1919 – Azed for beginners
Solving time: 27:40, with Chambers used for the last three – 25/26/27. As promised, I’m going into more detail than usual to help solvers who are unfamiliar with Azed puzzles to use this … Read more >>
Guardian 24,641 (Sat 7 Mar)/Paul – Star signs
Solving time: 7:17 When I first printed this off I thought I must be missing a preamble, but in fact the asterisks in some clues (those starred below) acted as definitions of ‘stars’ … Read more >>
FT 13,024/Adamant
Please excuse the drive-by blog, which I’ll aim to flesh out in a couple of hours. (I can sympathise with the clue at 8D today.) Not much to explain, although I suspect that … Read more >>
Independent 6991/Phi
I found this unusually difficult — the two-word clues were a problem and one or two short answers are even now not totally clear. But apart from one or two quibbles, a typically … Read more >>
Beelzebub 994 (08/03/09)
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. I actually managed to finish this on the Sunday, which is something of a rarity for me. Still, it was a very pleasant way to … Read more >>
Guardian 24646 / Auster
Quite a few nice clues in this fairly easy puzzle from Auster. (I’m a bit disappointed there’s are no Australian words or phrases this time, though. :)) Across 1. MILDEWED MILD + EWE … Read more >>