Lots of fun – ended up filling the grid with quite a few clues unparsed, but it was well worth the effort to unravel them afterwards. Thanks Puck – many favourites…
Year: 2015
Independent 8939 / Radian
This is our 200th blog!! (exclamation!) We haven’t blogged a Radian since last September – and this was a reasonably straightforward and enjoyable solve, let down only by the reference to … Read more >>
Araucaria Documentary
The Guardian has just released a documentary recorded shortly before John Graham’s death in 2013. It can be found here. This page also has links to some other related articles which you may … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 812/Moley
Moley has transformed herself into Mary Poppins this morning. If you talk to setters, they will say that compiling ‘easy’ puzzles is actually the hardest thing to do, because you’ve almost got … Read more >>
Guardian 26,592 – Rufus
I found this a bit harder than usual for a Rufus, with a few quibbles, as detailed below. Thanks to the setter. Across 1. ATTACHE CASE Stick … Read more >>
Independent 8938/eXternal
A good puzzle from eXternal to start the Indy week. His cluing style can be rather involved, and since I am a fan of concision, he’s probably never going to be my favourite … Read more >>
Cyclops 548: Runcible spooning
A one-pint puzzle for me this week (and that was the first pint, which goes down quickly). Writing the blog took much longer than solving the puzzle, which had no real surprises. I … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,319 by Poins
Lovely surfaces this week from Poins. I must pay more attention to them in future. Quite a tough challenge too, with 9 down being my undoing. I felt fortunate to remember Jeremy Bentham, … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1317
I found this tricky in places, possibly because 60% of the clues had an answer or part of the wordplay (or both in some cases) that was a word/term which I hadn’t met … Read more >>
Everyman 3,582
An easier Everyman than the last one I blogged
AZED 2,243
A couple of downright obscure words in here but on the whole quite amenable given enough time to think about it. Thank you AZED.
Independent 8,931 by Rorschach (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 30/05/15)
I’m not sure I’ve blogged a Rorschach before. Certainly I had very little idea what to expect. This was jolly good though. I managed to finish unaided, even if it did take a … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No 1175 – Here’s Looking at You, Kcit
Here’s the preamble in full:
Clues are presented in the correct order. The completed grid, which does not have one letter per square, displays mirror symmetry, and resembles the item given by the unclued entry (verifiable, though not the precise form used, in the Oxford Dictionary of English). Clue numbers and bars must not be entered. Those letters which are not one per square, when combined with those in the four shaded cells, can be rearranged to give a thematic word which must be written under the grid. Chambers Dictionary (2014) is recommended, but does not contain one reasonably common foreign word; one entry is an abbreviation.
Guardian Prize 26,585 by Paul
I was struggling on this puzzle for a while. Then I remebered Paul’s style and once I got on his wavelength again answers started jumping into the grid. Thanks Paul for a fine puzzle.
Financial Times 14,949 / Io
Turbolegs struggled with this one (as did I) and, due to family commitments, did not have time to finish the puzzle and then write a blog, so you have me instead. I was … Read more >>