Some more Qaotic fun…
Guardian Genius 182 – Puck
This didn’t take me as long as some Geniuses, but it was nevertheless a puzzling experience. It soon became obvious that “the clues to the other solutions have an unwanted 22, either in … Read more >>
Andrew
Azed 2411
Quite a high proportion of obscure words in this one, I think, but even so I managed to finish it quite quickly, and almost entirely without aids, thanks to educated guesswork resulting from … Read more >>
Guardian 27,601 – Picaroon
To paraphrase Dr Johnson, when a solver is tired of Picaroon’s puzzles, he is tired of life; and here is another fine example of the genre. I can’t see a theme in this … Read more >>
Guardian 27,594 – Imogen
This was considerably more of a challenge than yesterday’s Qaos, but after a slow start it yielded steadily and satisfyingly, with a couple of tricky parsings to work out at the end. Thanks … Read more >>
Guardian 27,587 – Arachne
My second blog of the week, as promised, and it was a delight to find Arachne’s name on today’s puzzle. Mostly not too hard, though 5d took me a while to parse, but … Read more >>
Guardian 27586 – Chifonie
You’ll be getting a double dose of me this week, as I’m standing in for the holidaying Loonapick this morning. This was a typically quick solve from this setter, with mostly straightforward constructions … Read more >>
Guardian 27,580 – Pan
Pan is one of the regulars in the Monday slot, and in fact last appeared only two weeks ago. He/she also sets Quiptics, and is usually well towards the “easy” end of the … Read more >>
Guardian 27,571 – Picaroon
Picaroon never disappoints, and this puzzle is no exception, with a collection of elegant, ingenious and accessible clues. But there’s more: I suspected there might be a crosswordy theme when I saw LISTENER … Read more >>
Azed 2405
I solved this quite quickly, but fully parsing some of the the clues took a while, and I’m not completely satisfied with my explanation of 11d, unless the clue is uncharacteristically loose, which seems unlikely. Thanks to Azed.
Guardian 27,557 – Puck
Puck helpfully tells us that today’s puzzle is to celebrate a 60th birthday…
Guardian 27,550 – Vulcan
I found this a bit harder than Vulcan’s previous puzzles, but still very suitable for the Monday slot, though I thought the cryptic definitions were a bit weak, and sometimes inaccurate. Thanks to … Read more >>
Guardian 27,548 – Vlad
A meaty challenge from Vlad today. I made slow progress at the start, but gradually speeded up as I went along, with some satisfying penny-drop moments. I can’t see any themes or Ninas … Read more >>
Guardian 27,541 – Crucible
Another excellent puzzle from the ever-reliable Crucible.
Guardian 27,534 – Vlad
As usual with Vlad, there are a few easy clues to soften us up for the rigours to come: no walkover, but perhaps the impaling was less severe than with some of his work. Thanks to Vlad.