Independent 7,510/Dac
Great stufff as ever from Dac, who can make even the simplest double definition clue effortlessly elegant. There were one or two trickier clues in here I thought, but every one of them … Read more >>
Month: November 2010
Beelzebub 1,080 (31/10/10)
A very tough one this week, I found, with lots of new vocabulary. Blogging without Chambers in front of me, I suspect I may have wrongly hyphenated a couple here. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,539 / Aardvark
A relatively gentle solve today though I am not 100% sure that I have the parsing of 17ac correct and so would welcome any other suggestions. Across 1 BONESHAKER ONE (single) SH (mum) … Read more >>
Guardian 25164 – Araucaria
Mostly very straightforward clueing from Araucaria, with just a bit of deviousness at 27ac and a mini-theme linked to 5dn. Unusually, there are no full anagram clues at all, just small partial anagrams … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,538 / Armonie
An enjoyable, not too difficult puzzle today. There seems to be a word missing in 22 across. Laughed at 23 down, which is risque to American ears, at least. My favorite clue of … Read more >>
Guardian 25163 Chifonie – Light & Easy
After a string of masterly and challenging puzzles, today I had a very light sentence, very much like chiffon, light and easy. Should be a breeze for most regulars here. ACROSS 1,5 LETTER … Read more >>
Independent 7509/Raich
A pleasant — pretty easy even I thought — crossword where the four books appear three times as answers (so for a while I was puzzled by the repeated ‘one of four here’) … Read more >>
Independent 7508 by Tees
Quite a tough puzzle which I enjoyed. Made fairly quick progress at the start but then it got much harder esp in the lower half of the grid. Solving time, 44 mins. * … Read more >>
Guardian 25,162 / Rufus
From today, there is a slight change to the Guardian blogger team, with a three week cycle for most bloggers, except Uncle Yap who continues as a Tuesday regular. I’ve blogged quite a … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic no. 573 by Nutmeg
I found this one more difficult than many a Guardian Cryptic. Several of the entries seemed at first to have far too much clue for the answer, which is generally a sign that … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 429 – Gothic Crackpot
Lovely stuff as usual. Nothing too tricky or unexplained this time. Pleasant solve over a couple of pints. I noted I had 9 unsolved when starting pint number two. Across 8/16 ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1081 by Quixote – 31st October 2010
Another very approachable puzzle this week, which we finished in good time and without having to reach for any books, with the exception of ‘Bargee’, which was new to us (at least in … Read more >>
Azed 2,005
Azed 2005 – Plain This was a pretty straightforward puzzle, done in 40 minutes, with Chambers only used for the last two answers – 26, which I should have got on my own, … Read more >>
Everyman 3,344
Mostly straightforward; a couple of plant names which are reasonably common, but which might give trouble to those who are non compost mentis (apologies all round). Notably smooth surfaces. ACROSS 1 STRIFE Charade … Read more >>
Guardian 25,155 (Sat 30 Oct)/Araucaria – Pen Elaine
Solving time: 12 mins The last 3 minutes of this, at least, were on 6dn (CHATELAINE) which I found much the hardest clue, although if I’d solved this a month ago it would … Read more >>