Guardian Cryptic N° 25,637 by Paul
This shows Paul’s characteristic inventiveness in wordplay; fortunately I seem to be close to his wavelength. Across 1. See 15 – See 15 4. Fiddle with good seafood (6) SCAMPI A charade of … Read more >>
Month: May 2012
Inquisitor 1228: Characters by Shark
Quite a lot going here, and a grade 4 workout. Five works by x to be discovered … Original letters in down misprinted definitions {novel} spell out the first. Replacing x‘s initials … Read more >>
Financial Times 14004 Dante
This is the third time that I’ve blogged Rufus on Monday and his alter ego on Tuesday. So it appears that Rufus is becoming quite a regular starter for the FT week. Following … Read more >>
Independent 7982 / Glueball
A new compiler or someone in disguise? So many of the clues were related that it was difficult to know where to start. For the first five minutes – nothing! It wasn’t until … Read more >>
Guardian 25636 – Orlando
Quite a pleasant morning’s workout with a rich variety of devices to tax and tickle the brain. Next week, I shall be taking a short leave to attend the InterHash 2012 in Jogjakarta, … Read more >>
Independent 7981 by Quixote
Very good puzzle from Quixote. Very good surface readings, all fair. Straightforward wordplay for less familiar words. On another xword blogging site, one of the bloggers lists the (classical) music listened to while … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 25635 Rufus
It’s a regular Monday, in other words, it’s an enjoyable puzzle of dds and cds and anagrams from Rufus. A bit tricky towards the end, in the NW corner, which, for me, took as … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 652/Nutmeg
A pleasing Quiptic from Nutmeg, but she has included a number of cryptic definitions, which I found slightly tricky. Overall though, a well-constructed puzzle, with just one clue that I can’t quite get … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops) 468 – Frottage Special
Seemed to me Cyclops was making a particular theme of solitary sexual gratification this week. No? Just me then. I expect he didn’t really mean to milk it. You have to be to … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,157
This seemed to be about average difficulty for Beelzebub, though with plenty of long anagrams and a relatively high number of forays north of the border. I made life difficult for myself by … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,159 by Crosophile
It’s been a little while since I’ve drawn a Sunday Crosophile, and this one seemed to be in keeping with those I’ve encountered before: generally medium difficulty with a few curveballs thrown in … Read more >>
Everyman No. 3422 (6th May)
Lorraine: Good morning one and all, lovely puzzle this week, I enjoyed it tremendously. Lots of favourites, 4, 14, 26 and 27ac and 1, 5,6, and 19dn. Big thank you to Everyman, this was … Read more >>
Azed 2083
The usual Azed solve: excellent sound clueing and a large number of words that you never knew existed. Across 1 BEWITCH — the competition clue-word 7 ASTI{r} 10 ATHAPASCAN — (Apach{e} Satan)* although … Read more >>
Independent 7,974 by Monk (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 05/05/12)
Monk’s puzzles are always challenging and inventive, and this was no exception. I honestly want to be able to enjoy them, as he seems like an awfully nice chap, but for me this … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1016: Sentry Duties by Mynot
A short preamble instructs solvers to consider ‘SENTRY DUTIES’ in ‘thematically treating’ 12 answers before entry, to create new words. So far so good. But then we are told: ‘How the remaining answers … Read more >>