Beelzebub 1170

Slick and smooth like a well-oiled machine       Across 1 Questioning who in French zone will have spirit QUIZZING (questioning) QUI (French for who?) Z (zone) ZING (spirit) 8 Government lawyers … Read more >>

Guardian 25,710 – Gordius

Yesterday’s puzzle from Paul would be a hard act to follow for any setter, and Gordius (not one of my favourite setters, as regular readers will know) suffers in comparison. Most of this … Read more >>

Financial Times 14,069 – Dante

Monday Prize Crossword/Jul 30 A Dante crossword that can be found here (in case one needs a reminder of the grid). On the whole Dante’s on a par with himself, even though there was … Read more >>

Financial Times 14,068 by Cincinnus

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of July 28, 2012 This was a fine if perhaps undistinguished Cincinnus. I especially like 2D (PARODISTS), 14D (EMPATHISED) and 6D (INORDINATE). Across 1. TIPPET – TIPPET[t] … Read more >>

Independent 8055/Dac

As usual … Does Dac ever depart from his high standards? Across 1 W AVER 4 MISS (JUL 1) E{uropean} — the play by Strindberg 9 ARNOLD BAX — {p}a{t}r{o}n old “backs” 10 … Read more >>

Financial Times 14,077 by Dogberry

Smooth surfaces, witty definitions and sound clues.  I thought this was straightforward and accessible without ever being dull. I suspect this is much harder to achieve than it sounds.  Thank you Dogberry. I … Read more >>

Financial Times 14076 Armonie

Considerably less difficult than the last Armonie I blogged.  Still, I got nowhere starting from the NW, which I normally do, and instead had to work from the SE.  Good fun – some … Read more >>