ilancaron

A clue or two hinting that the setter is a woman. Which I knew already. I wonder a bit about 16D and I think I’m right about 11D (a first for me recognizing … Read more >>

Not as hard as the last Orlando I had to blog though had to guess at a couple of defs. Please enlighten. Seemed more than average anagram count which probably explains why I … Read more >>

A mix of the easy and the hard. I had to trawl Google a bit here and there. Finding one of my answers on this very site (see 24A). Questions about some of … Read more >>

The serial number is probably a misprint online. Anyway, a rather good Rufus I thought – an &lit here and there, a couple of reasonable cryptic definitions. Overall a pleasant accompaniment to my … Read more >>

This got postponed throughout all of yesterday as various things intervened. Anyway, a rather noble effort by Araucaria that had me looking up a few aristocratic references. Shirley has clarified things below… Across … Read more >>

Always a pleasure to encounter Pasquale in The Guardian. One of the reasons is that you know that his wordplay will always be (eventually!) justifiable and sensible — with just the right touch … Read more >>

Many clues with the parts of speech and/or meanings in the wordplay and surface surprisingly different which made this quite an enjoyable puzzle. Quite a few single letter abbrevs as well — not … Read more >>

Well, according to my local clock it’s still today Tuesday. So by the letter of the law, this isn’t late. I like Orlando’s clean Ximenean sensibility which means precise, albeit sometimes surprising clues. … Read more >>

Too many cryptic definitions (albeit one or two are rather good) and anagrams. Which means this was a fairly typical Rufus of a Monday morning. Across 9 MO,HAWK – nice clue. Brit docs … Read more >>

A pretty easy and pedestrian puzzle. I had to look up the Tuesday ref in 2D and there were a couple of weak clues in my opinion — unless I missed some subtlety. … Read more >>

Well-phrased wordplay and clues on the whole. I struggled with several, to my mind, esoteric refs (SQUEERS, OSBERT, TREVELYAN) but I’m sure someone better educated (in Britain!) than myself would not have been … Read more >>

A classic Paulene challenge though no Araucarian cross-refs nor complex multi-word anagrams. But still some charming and clever clues… as per usual I always feel entertained and gratified having solved Paul. Lots of … Read more >>

Sorry this is late — I completely forgot. A pretty nice puzzle with a couple of clues that I wouldn’t have been surprised to have enountered in an Araucaria: e.g. 22D and 23D … Read more >>

I think the theme here is famous people that I’ve heard of — unless someone can find a better link between BLAIR, PRESCOTT, FATS WALLER, Stirling and Kate MOSS, Gordon Brown, PARIS HILTON, … Read more >>