Independent 6598/Bannsider
A very good (and tough in places) puzzle with an unusual theme: the top and bottom rows read OUR COUNTRY WEE ONE ENGLAND NIL. See 21a for a full explanation as to what … Read more >>
neildubya
Guardian 24,259 Paul : If it wisnae for your Wellies, where wud you be ?
Apologies for lateness – wrote a whole entry this morning and lost it. Baaad IT bloke – didn’t save my work as I went along. In the end – really quite a straight … Read more >>
Independent 6602/Nimrod
This is the first puzzle I’ve solved in what has so far been a pretty miserable week, with myself and MrsD both laid low with a virus and our 8 month old son … Read more >>
Independent 6592/Phi
I’d read four or five clues before I realised that something odd was going on and at first I thought the wrong grid had been printed. Then I spotted that there was no … Read more >>
Beelzebub 928/Phi (25-11-07)
Across 11 PROO[-f] – PROOfing something is a form of protection and PROO (or “pruh”) is a Scottish word used to direct or summon cattle. 13 E,MEN in EAST 14 (POTTER A GENIE)* … Read more >>
Independent 6596/Nimrod
Across 4 (SHE COSTS O)* – COHOSTESS. Quite a strange clue as it’s not really an &lit (“She costs nothing when partying”) but it reads like one. 9 ATE in NS – NATES … Read more >>
Guardian 24,252 Araucaria – “A piece of cake”
…. hardly ! It’s an Araucaria after all. Interim version of the solutions – feel free to help me out with the left side of the puzzle – managed to crack the RHS … Read more >>
Anagram Friday
Not having been lucky enough to get a crossword to solve for a while I was slightly disappointed that this one was so undemanding. I got through it in under 8 minutes. Still … Read more >>
Independent 6591/Eimi – Italian Job
Nice puzzle from The Editor with a theme that revealed itself in two parts for me: first, cities then Italian cities. Plaudits for getting so many in, especially when so many of them … Read more >>
Independent 6586/Nimrod (24-11-07)
I know next to nothing about horse-racing so once I’d twigged the theme I had to use Google to check a couple of answers that I got from the wordplay (1a and 28a). There are … Read more >>
Beelzebub 927/Columba (18-11-07)
A very enjoyable puzzle from a very reliable setter. It might be my imagination but there seemed to be a few more obscure words than there usually are in Beelzebub puzzles but I … Read more >>
Independent 6589/Dac
Across 4 SCHNAPPS – cleverly done. A drunkard might pronounce “snaps” (pictures = shots) as SCHNAPPS. The literal reading works too. 10 D in LANG,RAVE – this was new to me but fairly … Read more >>
Guardian 24,245 – Gordius : “This island race, this happy breed”
Apologies if you checked in earlier – a work crisis of Biblical proportions had wiped out my leisure time and my solution was sparse. Across 12 KENTISH = (THESKIN)* 16 A-TT-OR-NEY GENERAL – … Read more >>
Independent 6585/Math
In his blog yesterday, nmsindy was wondering why Phi had been moved from his usual Friday slot; this puzzle might provide an explanation… Across 8 A,(LIFE)* – I was all set to deride … Read more >>
Independent 6580/Monk
Across 3 A,MB,U,LANCES – I hesitated a bit over this as I didn’t know that LANCE=move quickly but with A,MB,U and a definition of “hospital transport” there’s not much else it can be. … Read more >>