Guardian 25,527 – Brendan

Brendan is becoming quite a regular as stand-in for Rufus on his occasional Mondays off, and this was a typically enjoyable puzzle, and mostly not too hard, though with a theme that might … Read more >>

Guardian 25,513 – Orlando

A reasonably straightforward puzzle from Orlando (perhaps to soften us up for Araucaria’s Christmas special tomorrow), but with all his usual sound elegance and understated wit. Thanks, Orlando, and Merry Christmas to all … Read more >>

Guardian 25,503 – Rufus

Another straightforward but nicely-constructed puzzle from Rufus, with the usual smooth surfaces.             Across 1. PORTRAYAL (PLAY OR ART)* 6. YVES Hidden in grubbY VESt 8. PUBLICAN PUBLIC … Read more >>

Guardian 25,499 – Chifonie

In contrast to yesterday’s fairly tricky puzzle from Bonxie, this is a typical Chifonie, with entirely straightforward constructions, so one that would be suitable for beginners. I have a familiar quibble about 2dn, … Read more >>

Azed 2059

This was a fairly typical Azed for me, in that I solved about three-quarters of it fairly quickly and without aids (though with plenty of educated guesswork) but took a bit longer on … Read more >>

Guardian 25,479 – Rufus

In contrast to the tricky Enigmatist puzzle I blogged last week, this was all plain sailing. The usual straightforward clueing (with 22ac being perhaps a slightly more involved construction than usual) and smooth … Read more >>