Independent 7708 by Quaiteaux
I had the pleasure of meeting Quaiteaux at the last London S&B. Found this pretty difficult in places and some bits still evade me. There seems to loads of Cryptic Double definitions … Read more >>
Month: June 2011
Financial Times No. 13,733 by SLEUTH
Rattled through this without too much difficulty. Was brought up short once or twice by some pretty baroque clueing, but, on the whole, nothing too 29ac. ACROSS 1. COWPAT Cryptic definition of the … Read more >>
Guardian 25,362 / Chifonie
An easy but enjoyable puzzle from Chifonie – and for once I have a time-zone difference that makes it easy to get the post done in time 🙂 Across 1. ALLOWED ALL = “Everything” … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,723 by Cinephile
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 18 I found this puzzle to be tough. In particular, 4A, 14D and 18D all stumped me for a while. I still do not completely … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,732 by Cinephile
Classic fare from Cinephile – inventive, witty and good fun. There are the usual vagueries, I have pointed out the ones that annoyed me. These seem as though they would easy to fix for … Read more >>
Independent 7,707 / Crosophile
Tackling a puzzle by a compiler/pseudonym that is new to one is always an exciting and somewhat daunting prospect, and especially daunting on a day when one has been scheduled to produce a … Read more >>
Guardian 25,361 / Brendan
I was thinking it was a while since we had a Brendan puzzle, so I was very pleased to see his name on this one. Unusually, his last offering told us, ‘There is … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1182 – Guru by Nimrod
It was relatively easy to identify the Guru of the title, less so to complete this multi-threaded puzzle. First there were two completely barred off squares, one preceded the IKE of ikebana, the … Read more >>
Independent 7,706/Eimi
It’s been quite a while since I blogged an Eimi puzzle, so this was a welcome appearance from the Ed. The grid suggested that there was a theme (as did the setter!), but … Read more >>
Financial Times 13731 Courtier
Since this setter was new to me, I searched and found that he/she makes just a single appearance in the FT every 2nd half of June, since 2008. This coincides with another annual event, … Read more >>
Guardian 25,360 – Paul, the Master
It has been a laugh a minute this morning when I unravelled Paul’s latest offering. In many cases, I first hazarded a likely answer and then worked backwards to justify the word-play and … Read more >>
Sloggers and Betters in Cheltenham
On behalf of Eric Westbrook: A 3D Bloggers and Setters in Cheltenham — August 6th The next Bloggers and Setters get-together will be held in Cheltenham on Saturday August 6th starting at 1.00 … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 606 / Pan
Another excellent Quiptic from Pan. Unfortunately at the time I solved it the answer to 22 down had the middle two letters reversed which then gave an incorrect spelling for 25 across. All … Read more >>
Guardian 25,359 – Rufus
The usual straightforward stuff from Rufus today, with lots of double definitions. Only two cryptic definitions, one of which I find rather unsatisfactory. Across 7. NARRATION RAN reversed … Read more >>
Independent 7705 by Quixote
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism I found this a bit more difficult than the usual Quixote and there were one or two clues I had to work quite hard … Read more >>