Everyman No. 3345 (7th November)
Lorraine: Good day to you one and all, lovely well balanced puzzle this week. Nice to see the return of my favourite clue types, lots of anagrams. Thank you Everyman I thoroughly enjoyed … Read more >>
Month: November 2010
Azed 2006 — ‘Spoonerisms’
Azed’s last competition puzzle was (of course, 2000) a special and I’d been expecting a little run of plains, but his specials, although they always take a bit longer than usual, are well … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1082 by Quixote — 7 November 2010
As far as I can remember, this is the first time I’ve tried an Independent on Sunday crossword, and I found it surprisingly easy for a prize puzzle. *(••••) indicates an anagram Across … Read more >>
Independent 7,507 by Nimrod (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 06/11/10)
I would normally panic at seeing Nimrod’s name appear on a blogging day, but with a two hour train journey ahead of me, this was a welcome challenge. I’d filled about two thirds … Read more >>
Guardian 25,161 (Sat 6 Nov)/Paul – Forsyth Saga
Solving time: 9 mins The second appearance in a couple of weeks for Paul (the last as part of Biggles) and I really enjoyed it – there were loads of inventive clues in … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No 939 An Impassable Door by Shark
So an impassable door this week, 23 misprints to spell out a quotation then find the quotation’s author and highlight AN IMPASSABLE DOOR. Chambers is defined as the only reference, so, logically, the quotation … Read more >>
Independent 7,512 by Phi
I don’t know about you guys, but I found this remarkably hard, and I struggled to get anywhere today. This is not least due to the quantity of unfamiliar vocabulary in there. This … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,541 / Alberich
Alberich challenges and entertains, and altogether gives us a very satisfying puzzle. A trademark of this setter is the seamless joint between definition and wordplay, and you can relish many examples of it … Read more >>
Guardian 25,166 / Gordius
A pretty typical Gordius puzzle, I think – plenty of nice clues, but with a few liberties that rather bothered me along the way. Across 1. SEVENTEEN EVENT = “What happens” in SEEN … Read more >>
Independent 7511 by Eimi.
Eimi takes the stage today, and some suspicious minds might look at the date and think Armistice Day. They’d be wrong as this appears to be a vanilla crossword, even if bits do … Read more >>
Guardian 25,165 / Brendan
After three days of relatively undemanding puzzles, I wasn’t sure what to expect today but was very pleased to see Brendan’s name on this one. As usual, I had the momentary dread of … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1150 – Dry by Phi
Solving time: about 30 mins, except for Googling to confirm the theme. This was an easy Inquisitor puzzle, with vocabulary that wasn’t too obscure. There were four themewords clued by wordplay only, each … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,540 / Sleuth
A few too many double definitions and homophones for my taste today. Nothing particularly bad, but such a surfeit runs the risk of diluting the overall experience. So, to borrow a much-favoured and … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,531 – Cincinnus
Monday Prize Crossword on 1 November 2010 Thank you, Mr Colin Inman for rotating the setters. After a couple of years of Dante and Crux, Cincinnus (aka Orlando in The Guardian) is a … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,530 by Cinephile
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of October 30 A very easy puzzle from Cinephile this time. Easy for me except that I had to look up the names of the main characters … Read more >>