Andrew

I started off on Everyman in The Observer, and began solving Azed while I was a student at Cambridge (reading maths) shortly after it started. I do the Guardian puzzle most days and others sporadically. In real life I work as a software developer (still in Cambridge), and for non-crossword recreation play the piano and am involved in amateur theatre.

Guardian 24,603/Araucaria

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A themed puzzle from Araucaria, with 13 wordplay-only clues for capital cities (highlighted in blue below). I caught on to the theme early on by a lucky guess at PRAGUE, but still found … Read more >>

Guardian 24,596/Quantum

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A straightforward puzzle with nothing particularly exciting and a few very easy clues. Key: dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition * = anagram < = reverse Across 1. TACTFUL (FACT ULT)* … Read more >>

Guardian 24,588/Rufus

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My first day back at work after Christmas (boo!), and it’s back to traditional scheduling with a gentle Rufus puzzle. I’m unsure about my explanation of 19ac and unhappy about 26ac. Key: dd … Read more >>

Guardian 24,586/Boatman

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Boatman’s third outing in the Guardian, and, completely by coincidence, my third chance to blog him. Another enjoyable puzzle, with some excellent clues – I particularly liked 25ac, 1dn and 19dn. Best wishes … Read more >>

Guardian 24,574/Rover

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A bit of a mixed bag today, with some very simple anagrams a a few nice clues, but also some rather weak ones, and a couple of obscure (to me) references. Key: dd … Read more >>

Guardian 24,570/Chifonie

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After Araucaria’s Miltonic epic and Paul’s Queen/Chess combo this week it was almost a relief to return to milder waters today with Chifonie. I found this mostly very easy, with just a couple … Read more >>

Azed 1905

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Another moderately difficult Azed. I’ve been struck down with a horrible cold over the last coouple of days so haven’t ben able to write a very full blog: I’ve shown the basics of … Read more >>

Azed 1904

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A moderately difficult Azed, which I somehow found more of a slog and less of a pleasure than usual, though as always it’s scrupulously fair and there are some excellent clues. Key: dd … Read more >>

Guardian 24,548/Arachne

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Rufus gets a Monday off to make way for a reasonably easy offering from Arachne. There are a couple of clues where I’m not sure I’ve got the explanation right, and one (27ac) … Read more >>

Guardian 24,546/Orlando

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After a rather contentious week, I was a bit apprehensive about what to expect for my blogging slot today, so it was quite a relief to get this fairly straightforward but enjoyable puzzle … Read more >>