Azed 1,933
As usual with an Azed, I came across some words I had not met before, though all could be readily determined from the wordplay and a little help from Chambers. It took me a … Read more >>
Month: June 2009
Everyman 3272
I’ve been rather busy this week so I’m writing this blog six days after having done the puzzle. I don’t remember getting particularly stuck on anything, and seem to remember plenty of pretty … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,008 (14/06/09)
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. I thought this was going to be the week that Beelzebub defeated me. I wrote in entirely the wrong answer at 3dn which left the … Read more >>
Guardian 24,725 (Sat 13 Jun)/Araucaria – Vegged out
Solving time: 20:43 Another impressive ‘Araubetical’ with answers beginning with each letter of the alphabet. Most of the difficulty for me came from getting started on the grid rather than the clues per … Read more >>
Emoticons
So that comments may at times be put more into context, and to perhaps brighten up the site a bit, I have activated graphic emoticons (smileys). The following may be used. Just type … Read more >>
Guardian 24,730 / Arachne
It seems another blogger has been prevented from posting for one reason or another so I’m afraid you will have to put up with me again. A lot of excellent clues today and … Read more >>
Independent 7075 by Phi
Good Phi puzzle as always, solving time 21 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 MUS(t) I C Definition: notes 4 BAGUETTES (Bet a guest)* 9 S (A RACE) N Sn … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,107 / Aardvark
I enjoyed this puzzle overall, except that I thought there was an overload of ‘select nth letter’ type of wordplay. The clues are a little wordy but have entertaining surfaces, notably 8A, 27A, … Read more >>
Inquisitor 128 — An Important Distinction by Obtrox
This one was mixed bag for me. I found some of it relatively tough for an Inquisitor. The tough parts were the down clues. With the wordplay providing two extra letters I found … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 866 – Gray’s Anatomy by Viking
Unlike the last EV I blogged, I made steady progress with this one. Having got ‘ignorance’ twice, but not the author, I might have finished sooner if I possessed an earlier edition of … Read more >>
Independent 7070 – Mordred (Sat 13 June 2009)
This was a Cocker-knee rhyming slang special. I ‘ad t’scratch me old loaf a bit to solve this one. There were a good sprinkling of relatively easy clues for a saturday to get … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,106 / Sleuth
A late solve, and an even later posting. But better late than never, as was the case last Thursday. After the first couple of across clues, I suspected that we were on for … Read more >>
Independent 7,074 by Scorpion
I found this one a pretty stiff challenge, but that may simply be because when I see that the setter is Scorpion I tend to panic a little. The wordplay is complex, but … Read more >>
Guardian 24,729 / Quantum
Quantum’s posthumous puzzles continue to appear, more than a year after his death. I found this one mostly pretty easy going, though I was slightly held up at the end with the two … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,096 by Cincinnus
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 6 A mighty strong puzzle from Cincinnus this time. I am awed by 26A and also like 5A and 13A. It took me some time … Read more >>