Guardian 24,779 / Puck – Peace, man!
I’m standing in on this puzzle for Rightback, who is away. The 40th anniversary that was celebrated was the Woostock festival, which opened on 15 August 1969. There were also some links to … Read more >>
Month: August 2009
Enigmatic Variations No. 875 – No Complaints by Hypnos
A reasonably quick solve for this one, then a lot of head scratching trying to parse 17d and 26d. This was greatly helped once I had realised the theme and could complete the … Read more >>
Independent 7,129 by Phi
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Top quality as always from Phi. There’s something of a cricket theme going on, for obvious reasons, and “RE” comes up a lot – I’m … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,161 / Alberich
A toughie today! Lots of clever wordplay, deliciously misleading definitions. A treat to solve. Across 1 SALMAN RUSHDIE &lit. Wonderful anagram to start the puzzle with. 9 MUSTARD STAR (the Sun) in MUD … Read more >>
Guardian 24784 / Araucaria
Having an appalling ignorance of history, I found this difficult, and only worked out the theme after filling the grid and Googling the names. The joke is that CABALLEROs might have been members … Read more >>
Independent 7,124 by Anax (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 15/08/09)
I haven’t blogged an Anax puzzle before – in fact I’m not sure that I’ve even seen one in the Independent. That said, the name is of course more than a little familiar … Read more >>
Inquisitor 137 – No Yens by Schadenfreude
This has to be one of the toughest Inquisitors I have ever tackled. I think I have the grid correct though I’m not sure about some of the thematic material. Solving time: several … Read more >>
Independent 7128 by Nimrod
This was one of the hardest Indy puzzles I’ve ever tackled. Only one answer entered on first run through as a tentative guess which, as the rest of the puzzle was solved, turned … Read more >>
Guardian 24,783 – Shed
This is just the level of difficulty I like on a Thursday – hard to crack into, but ultimately yielding its solutions with some persistence and nothing feeling ‘unfair’. Across 9. GASTROPUB. BUG< … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,160 / Flimsy
Smiffy is on holiday so we will not be seeing his cheerful avatar for a couple of weeks. Nothing particularly difficult or outstanding in today’s puzzle and I got a feeling of déjà vu … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1018 by Quixote – 16 Aug 2009
Solving time, 24 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 S (AU CE) PAN 6 BU(i)CK 9 Shed NAILS 10 RE PR IS AL 11 BUSINESS LETTER 12 FA(C)T O TUM 13 (ma)LICE 16 … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,151 – Crux
Monday Prize Crossword on 10 August 2009 dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,150 by Cinephile
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of August 9 Cinephile is in good form here with a puzzle that I found moderately easy but very satisfying. I particularly like 17A. Across 9. POORHOUSE … Read more >>
Independent 7,127/Dac
Apologies for the late posting. Lousy workload! Nowt lousy about this offering from the mid-week maestro though. Elegant stuff from Dac, who never fails to impress. Across 1 LIBIDO – I in LIB … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,159 / Cinephile
A mixed bag today with some old chestnuts (eg 12a, 2d & 22d), a relatively modern reference (4d) and some clues that are typical Cinephile (eg 1d & 6d). I have a question … Read more >>