Guardian Cryptic 25467 Brendan
We find an unexpected Brendan for today’s crossword, and which is also a bit harder (especially the SE corner) than the usual start to the week. Perhaps there is something going on…. The crossword is … Read more >>
Month: October 2011
Guardian Quiptic 624/Moley
A Quiptic from Moley that was a mixture of tricks and treats … We’ve remarked many times how hard it must be to produce an ‘easy’ puzzle. This one was generally accessible, with … Read more >>
Independent 7813 by Quixote
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism This was a fairly standard Quixote puzzle, not too difficult but with one or two unusual words giving slight pause for thought. Most of … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,131
A very challenging week, though typically not short on quality from Beelzebub. 15ac is this week’s challenge for readers to explain. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Across 1 ASCLEPIAD – … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,132 by Crosophile
Apologies for the slightly tardy post – it has been a long and busy week. And so it may just have been me being preoccupied by starting a new job the following day, … Read more >>
Everyman No. 3395 (23th October)
Lorraine: Good morning one and all, Very enjoyable crossword this week, to be honest I really had no problems and found this weeks offering very straight forward. Favourites were 26ac – very clever indeed, … Read more >>
Azed 2056 – 23 October 2011
AZED has been compiling the Sunday barred crossword in The Observer for nearly 40 years and he continues to create a consistently challenging standard of puzzle. This was another … Read more >>
Independent 7806 by Morph (Saturday Prize Puzzle 22 October 2011)
This was just a masterpiece of a straight good-old fashioned cryptic crossword puzzle – no themes, ninas, linked clues – just some wonderful surface readings, diversions, and plenty of self-contained ‘stories within clues’. … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 989: Problem by Samuel
This was a rather fun, um, ‘probléme’ to solve, and I can only say, erm, ‘bon mots’ about it. The preamble refers to six thematic, undefined answers which, combined with a quotation made up … Read more >>
Guardian Prize Puzzle 25,460 by Bonxie
I don’t think I have blogged Bonxie before, I found this one enjoyable and a nice level of difficulty, not too hard or too easy. Lots of colours in the answers, but not … Read more >>
Independent 7,811/Phi
Great stuff as always from the ever dependable Phi. Pretty tough in places, but all clues as sound as a pound. I can’t see anything hidden in the grid, though its shape suggests … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,836 /Styx
This would have been a very quick solve had I not confidently entered ‘track’ at 12ac on my first pass through the clues only to change it to ‘trace’ when I solved 3dn. … Read more >>
Guardian 25,465 – Crucible
A very enjoyable puzzle from Crucible with a number of answers (asterisked below – let me know if I’ve missed any) related to the phrase at 4,6. Not too difficult, but there are … Read more >>
Independent 7810/Tees
Some excellent clues in a very nice crossword today from Tees. One or two of them I couldn’t understand properly but I suspect that as usual all will be made clear. My apologies … Read more >>
Guardian 25,464 – Paul
I’d not heard of the long (53 letter!) solution to 16 et al, but managed to fill it in at the end. Impressive as it is to fit such a long phrase into … Read more >>