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 26,502 – Rufus

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Eleven cryptic definitions out of 26 clues? I think that must be a record, even for a Rufus puzzle; and some of them are rather weak, or otherwise satisfactory, as noted below. So, … Read more >>

Guardian 26,500 – Puck

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Some good Puckish fun today – nicely positioned in difficulty, but with a twist… … as well as some cross-referencing between clues, there’s a theme of clues that are, or use, some of … Read more >>

Guardian 26,493 / Tramp

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I found this very hard, and a bit of a slog – I seemed to be staring at a virtually empty grid for ages. Even getting the long answer at 11,2 didn’t make … Read more >>

Azed 2226 – Playfair

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I’m glad to see I’m not the only blogger who gets worried when landing on a Playfair puzzle. “I admit to a slight feeling of trepidation when I … noticed that it was … Read more >>

Guardian 26,486 – Shed

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A good week for Guardian puzzles continues with a welcome return of Shed after a bit of a gap (his last weekday puzzle was last September). My first one in was 1a, and … Read more >>

Guardian 26,472 – Rufus

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I’m short of time this morning, so please excuse the rather brief explanations below. A very Rufus-y Rufus today, with six double and eight (!) cryptic definitions: some of the latter rather obvious, … Read more >>

Guardian 26,463 – Pasquale

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A tough challenge from Pasquale, with quite a few names in the answers, which with the need for some “general knowledge” and a couple of obscure words might not make this to everyone’s … Read more >>