Andrew

I found it very hard to get started on this one, but once I’d got a few answers in it yielded steadily, with the exception of a phrase I’d never heard of at … Read more >>

I’ve been a bit harsh on Chifonie in the past because of his very straightforward and sometimes unchallenging style, usually involving lots of simple charades, but there’s no reason why we shouldn’t have … Read more >>

Apologies for a late and rather hurried Bank Holiday blog. It’s always a pleasure to see Brendan’s name, and this puzzle was enjoyable as ever. Regular readers will know that there’s always a … Read more >>

I was surprised to find that I haven’t blogged an Araucaria puzzle for just over six months (since when I have met the man himself for the first time), but this makes up … Read more >>

A tough but very entertaining puzzle from Puck with a couple of cleverly intertwined themes and some very involved wordplay (one of those where you think “this could have been a prize puzzle”). … Read more >>

An outstandingly entertaining and interesting puzzle by Crucible, celebrating a quatercentenary, to end off an excellent week (I even quite enjoyed the Gordius!). I usually think of Crucible as being at the hard … Read more >>

Mostly the usual smooth and straightforward clueing from Rufus this sunny Bank Holiday, with a couple of rather over-familiar clues (27ac, 8dn), but I slowed down at the end and took a bit … Read more >>

It’s been a while since I blogged a Brendan puzzle, so it was a delight to get this – one where every across clue includes the word “queen”, used in various ways, including … Read more >>

My spooky synchronicity with Chifonie continues as I get another of his puzzles to blog. As usual it’s a pleasant enough solve (though with two examples of defining a place by “in X”, … Read more >>

A fairly typical Gordius, with some reasonable clues, including some that revealed their secrets very easily, and also quite a few that I have quibbles about. I can’t fully explain 13ac and 26ac, … Read more >>

The usual straightforward Monday Rufus offering. There are perhaps slightly fewer cryptic definitions than sometimes, and I can’t summon up much enthusiasm for those that there are; I’m also not keen on a … Read more >>

It’s been a while since we had an Enigmatist puzzle, but he’s back with a vengeance with this one. I found it very hard to get started, with the large number of cross-references, … Read more >>

I seem to get be getting all the Chifonies lately, and this is another fairly typical specimen, with a large proportion of charade clues, though I found it if anything slightly harder than … Read more >>