Eileen

Not a lot of joy here for me today, with a theme in which I have little interest – but I’m glad to say that I did not resort to Google, except to … Read more >>

An interesting and entertaining puzzle from Brummie, which turned out to be more straightforward than it looked at first sight.  There are some clever and amusing surfaces, some of which may be a … Read more >>

What a treat, at the end of a week of excellent puzzles, to get a lovely puzzle from Arachne! Not quite such a tussle as it often is but full of the characteristic … Read more >>

It’s Chifonie, rather than Rufus, who’s providing today’s customary ‘gentle start’ to the week, with plenty of anagrams and charades but no cryptic definitions, as far as I can see  – and a … Read more >>

I have blogged some pretty difficult Araucaria puzzles – and this one, as it happens, was not one of them – but this preamble, I think, must be the most difficult I’ve had … Read more >>

We don’t see Audreus very often, so it’s always good to see her name on a puzzle. There were several smiles here, which made up for a couple of niggles, with some nice … Read more >>

A classic Paul puzzle, brimming with clever, witty clues and ingenious constructions, providing several ahas and smiles while solving, along with – not surprisingly – a couple of lavatorial references.     16ac … Read more >>

Manehi has had travel problems today, so I’m a late substitute A most enjoyable topical puzzle on the theme of bells from Crucible, with all his usual wit and ingenuity, with lots of … Read more >>

A Christmas cracker from Boatman – a very clever puzzle, which exploits its theme to the full, with some very witty clues, ingenious constructions and excellent surfaces. I came a bit of a … Read more >>

A fairly typical Rufus mix of anagrams and double and cryptic definitions, with the usual silky-smooth surfaces, mostly straightforward, which is no bad thing at this busy time, with a couple of [for … Read more >>

A quick skim through the clues made me think I might not enjoy this theme much, because I didn’t expect to know some of the answers.  ‘North American food’ didn’t sound like my … Read more >>

What looked for a while like a typically Araucarian mixture of obscurity and straightforwardness, with a few liberties thrown in, turned out to have more going on than I realised. Definitions are underlined. … Read more >>

‘Mixed bag’ is a term that has been applied more than once to Gordius puzzles, by me and others – and here’s another: some good clues but, as so often, I have quibbles … Read more >>

I’m a great fan of Picaroon’s puzzles and there was no disappointment here: lots of witty and ingenious cluing, resulting in quite a bit of head-scratching, not least in the parsing department, followed … Read more >>