Andrew

I seem to have got into a habit lately of sailing through one half of a puzzle and struggling with the rest. With this one I finished the bottom half quite quickly but … Read more >>

I filled in the bottom half of this very quickly, the NE corner slightly less so; the NW corner took me longest (apart from the very easy 1ac), though for no good reason … Read more >>

Another very easy Rufus, though I had to check a couple of defintions (12ac and 6dn). I thought some of the double definitions were a bit weak, but there were some nice anagram … Read more >>

Another year, another Gordius.. In the spirit of the season I can say that I mostly enjoyed this, but as usual I have a few niggles, and there a couple of places where … Read more >>

A welcome return for Pasquale after nearly two months’ absence. The Christmas gremlins are still crawling around the Guardian site, meaning this puzzle was available 24 hours early, so I had plenty of … Read more >>

I must admit to feeling disappointed to see that I’d got a Gordius for my Christmas Eve blog, as he is not one of my favourite setters. I found this one very easy … Read more >>

Another straightforward Rufus, with a large helping of double definitions. A couple of clues (21ac and 23dn) have a word in the clue forming a major part of the answer, which can actually … Read more >>

I generally find Orlando’s puzzles quite easy going, but I struggled more than usual with this one. I finished the bottom half quite quickly, then the NE corner rather less so, with the … Read more >>

This was mostly straightforward, with a few very obvious clues, but there was some good fun too – I liked 14ac, 27ac, and especially 18dn. Sometimes the clues took a bit of working … Read more >>

Puck is always entertaining, and sometimes quite tricky, and this was certainly a lot of fun. I found most of it not too difficult, but the NW corner held me up for a … Read more >>

Typically easy Monday fare from Rufus today – not much else to say, really, except that I’m dubious about the construction of 3dn.           Across 1. OUTCAST OUT (striking) … Read more >>

Mostly very straightforward clueing from Araucaria, with just a bit of deviousness at 27ac and a mini-theme linked to 5dn. Unusually, there are no full anagram clues at all, just small partial anagrams … Read more >>

A moderately tricky Araucaria with some interestingly linked clues and a lot of amusement as always. There are also quite a few of his characteristic liberties, which I’ve noted in the comments below. … Read more >>