Azed 2027
After a few minutes in which simply nothing occurred to me, the puzzle suddenly yielded and I was able to complete it reasonably rapidly, although only with the help of Chambers. As always, … Read more >>
Month: April 2011
Everyman 3366/April 3rd
The usual pleasing puzzle from Everyman to accompany my Sunday morning. A good variety of clue types, and for me today some exceptional surfaces: of the acrosses, I could point to 10, 13, … Read more >>
Independent 7632 by Nestor (Saturday Prize Puzzle 2 April 2011)
A pleasing puzzle from Nestor this week. Certainly, a little easier than the last couple of weeks. Some lovely clues 28 across was probably my favourite – quite surreal, though there were other … Read more >>
Guardian Prize No 25,286 by Araucaria
Solving time: about 40 minutes (I expect my predecessor Rightback completed it in single figures!). There’s been some comment on the site in the week that this puzzle appeared about how some weekday … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.960 – Scandal in Bohemia by Salamanca
The last few EVs have been pretty tough, so I was glad that Salamanca’s offering was on the easy side. The main bulk of thematic material was found in ten undefined entries. Once … Read more >>
Independent 7637 / Phi
There are times when I find it difficult to find something to write about in a preamble and this is one of them. No theme or Nina to comment on (or at least … Read more >>
Guardian 25,291 / Araucaria
This was quite a struggle from start to finish, but there were, as usual, a few ‘doh!’ and ‘how clever!’ moments as I battled my way through it. I think therefore that this … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,663 / Jason
Shuchi is away today so I have the pleasure of covering this light-hearted puzzle from Jason. Nothing particularly difficult, in fact it was over all too quickly, but I was left feeling cheery, … Read more >>
Independent 7636 by Monk
Monk is back on the scene it seems, his web site used to say he hides his name in the grid. I can’t see it if he has though, but there are a … Read more >>
Guardian 25,290 / Brendan
Another wonderful puzzle from Brendan, with precise and elegant cluing. (I found the bottom half much easier than the top here, but perhaps that was just me…) Across 1. POUNDS Double definition: “Strikes” … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,662 / Hamilton
One of those puzzles that (unusually and belatedly) only struck me as being potentially tricky during the blogging process, rather than the solving process. It all seemed to drop into place quite readily … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,653 / Mudd
FT Prize Puzzle of Monday March 28 Good wordplay here, with some well-disguised definitions (16 across, 31 across). Nothing too hard, although it took me a while to spot the wordplay in clues … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,652 by Bradman
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of March 26 Bradman is, as far as I know, new to Weekend prize puzzles but I am familiar with him thanks to his weekday crosswords. His … Read more >>
Independent 7,635 / Dac
This was a more manageable puzzle to solve and to blog than one or two that have fallen to me in recent weeks. Unsurprisingly, it is up to Dac’s usual high standard, with … Read more >>
Guardian 25,289 / Paul
A fun puzzle from Paul today, with several instances of his trademark humour – all straightforwardly clued, I think. Across 1 BASENJI: BASE [bottom] + J [‘jay, we hear’] in reversal of IN: … Read more >>