duncanshiell

Born in 1948. I retired from full-time work in May 2007, after 37 years with Ordnance Survey and associated bodies and now have time to devote to crosswords, something not available for many years. Product of 17 years in the Scottish education system, but lived overseas or in southern England for virtually all of the time thereafter. I moved back to Scotland in 2010. Regular road runner and recently returned to orienteering and golf after a 35 year gap. Developed interested in cryptic crosswords in the mid 1960s (Scotsman, Sunday Express skeleton), but working overseas and then raising a family, meant dropping out of crossword solving for about 30 years. Now a regular solver of Times, Guardian, Independent, Inquisitor, Listener and Magpie crosswords. Reasonably regular finisher of the first four. Started blogging in late 2007. Any solving ability far outweighs any clueing ability. Krypton Factor contestant 1983; eliminated in the first round, but the obstacle course finish made good television!

Independent 7620 by Nimrod – Saturday Prize Puzzle 19 March 2011

March 26, 2011 at 12:01 am by duncanshiell

I was able to fill the grid on the Saturday the puzzle appeared but this was a puzzle that I kept returning to during the week, mainly to try and understand the wordplay … Read more >>

Guardian 25,272 / Brummie

March 17, 2011 at 9:41 am by duncanshiell

This took me some time as I was fixated on a number of wrong answers for some time. For example at 17 down I was convinced that I should take M … Read more >>

Inquisitor 1165: A Favourite Poem by Phi

March 2, 2011 at 12:05 am by duncanshiell

The preamble stated that the puzzle is based on of Phi’s favourite poems. The poem features a recurrent phrase, which explains the entry of one normally clued answser. The phrase is connected in … Read more >>

Guardian 25,253 / Araucaria

February 23, 2011 at 10:16 amFebruary 23, 2011 at 9:27 am by duncanshiell

This struck me as a typical Araucaria crossword with lots of cross-referencing between clues, lots of misdirection, a few words that many people do not use in everyday language, and one or two clues … Read more >>

Independent Saturday Prize Puzzle 7590 / Scorpion – 12 February 2011

February 19, 2011 at 12:05 am by duncanshiell

A quick glance at the clues for this puzzle showed that the solution to 8 Across was going to be important as five other clues made reference to it. In fact, the five … Read more >>

Inquisitor 1161 – Nicknames by Ifor – Saturday 23rd January 2011

February 2, 2011 at 12:10 am by duncanshiell

Ifor is a new compiler for the Inquisitor but he has had four crosswords published in The Magpie and one published in the Telegraph Enigmatic Variations series, all in the last two years. I … Read more >>

Guardian 25,233 / Rufus

January 31, 2011 at 8:17 am by duncanshiell

This was a fairly standard puzzle from Rufus that will no doubt divide the solving community along the usual lines. As ever, from Rufus, there were a number of clues based on cryptic … Read more >>

Independent 7574 / Mordred

January 25, 2011 at 10:55 am by duncanshiell

I’m an emergency stand-in today, so apologies for the slight delay in posting. I’m not a regular daily Independent solver – I tend to get The Independent on Saturday for the Inquisitor (which … Read more >>

Independent 7560 by Bannsider (Saturday Prize Puzzle 8 January 2011)

January 15, 2011 at 12:05 am by duncanshiell

Another very satisfying crossword from Bannsider. As usual the wordplay is very precise, even although it takes me a while to work it all out. The entry that took me the longest time … Read more >>

Guardian 25,219 / Brendan

January 14, 2011 at 9:34 amJanuary 14, 2011 at 8:29 am by duncanshiell

Seeing the word KING in every across clue made me think back to Bonxie’s rather difficult puzzle of last week when LEFT began all the Down clues and four of the Across clues. … Read more >>

Inquisitor 1157 – Please… by Eddie – 18 December 2010

January 5, 2011 at 9:41 amJanuary 5, 2011 at 12:01 am by duncanshiell

The preamble stated that the first words of a traditional verse are spelled out by single extra letters generated by the wordplay in each down clue, in order. The perimeter (clockwise, in which … Read more >>

Guardian 25201 / Araucaria

December 23, 2010 at 9:24 amDecember 23, 2010 at 8:46 am by duncanshiell

I like to work though all the clues first to see how many I can solve cold. As the first clue I solved in this puzzle was 25d, I thought this was going … Read more >>

Guardian 25,193 / Puck

December 14, 2010 at 8:40 am by duncanshiell

Uncle Yap commented yesterday that he is currently in Sri Lanka and may not have access to an internet terminal, so a substitute blogger takes the Guardian spot today. We have still got snow on … Read more >>

Independent 7525 (Saturday Prize Puzzle 27 November 2010) by Bannsider

December 4, 2010 at 12:05 am by duncanshiell

I am a fan of complex wordplay rather than cryptic definitions, so I always find Bannsider’s puzzles stimulating . There were some excellent wordplay examples here – e.g. EGGS BENEDICT although I have some … Read more >>

Guardian 25182 / Shed

December 1, 2010 at 12:46 pmDecember 1, 2010 at 8:33 am by duncanshiell

Well, I learnt a new word today, at 2 down, having toyed with TRIBALISM, thinking BALI was the island, before deciding I couldn’t make it fit the word play. There is no doubt that … Read more >>