Guardian 24,874 / Gordius
It looks like another no-show so you will have to put up with me again. I’ve mixed views about this puzzle. Some clues I liked (eg 9a & 23d), some were too obvious, … Read more >>
Never knowingly undersolved
It looks like another no-show so you will have to put up with me again. I’ve mixed views about this puzzle. Some clues I liked (eg 9a & 23d), some were too obvious, … Read more >>
Not the friendliest of grids with the NW and SE corners only connected to the rest of the puzzle by one clue each. Add to this some misleading (not in a bad way) … Read more >>
We seem to have another case of AWOL so here is a quick analysis of the clues. I will leave it up to others to provide a commentary. Across 1 PET AVERSIONS A … Read more >>
A themed puzzle revolving around Washington and Berlin. Tricky in places, partly due to the significant number of cryptic definitions. I am not completely sure that I have interpreted 22d correctly so any … Read more >>
I must again apologise for the late appearance of this analysis. I don’t know what has happened to smiffy, I only hope it is work rather than health related. Another excellent offering from … Read more >>
As usual with Aardvark there was a lot of repetition of the type of wordplay used in clues, as can be seen by the number of *( ) and [ ] in the … Read more >>
I made good progress during the first session, solving most of the clues fairly quickly but was held up for a while at the end by 16a and, particularly, 51a. With these resolved … Read more >>
Apologies for yet another late Thursday blog. I found this something of a Punk 19a (mixed bag), a couple of good &lits (particularly 20d), some decent surfaces (eg 23a & 25a) but also … Read more >>
A relatively straightforward puzzle by Cinephile standards with a legal theme in a number clues. I rather liked ‘cave’ in 19d being indicated by ‘old people’s home’ and one or two other clues … Read more >>
Due to the postal strike the closing date for entries has been put back to Saturday 14/11/2009 so today’s blog has been rescheduled for next Sunday.
What’s happened to smiffy?! This setter appears to be a new addition to the FT stable so it is a pity that a few errors crept into the puzzle along the way as … Read more >>
It’s been six months to the day since we last saw Io and that is too long. I blogged his last puzzle and my opening comment was “Well, this one was different!” and … Read more >>
A very enjoyable puzzle from Cinephile today, made easier by the horse racing theme which was fairly simple to determine from the first reference in 9a but as I was doing the clues … Read more >>
I’ve mixed views about this one. For example I liked the anagram indicators ‘snarled’ in 12a and ‘reprise’ in 20d but was unhappy with 22a and 23d as indicated below. I was also … Read more >>
I have been informed that, due to the postal strike, the closing date for most Indy prize puzzles is going to be extended by a week as from this weekend. Consequently the publication … Read more >>