Quixote and Everyman puzzles
We need to reduce the workload of our bloggers so we would like to stop blogging the two puzzles at the easier end of the scale which get read and commented on the least: Everyman and … Read more >>
neildubya
Guardian 24160/ Rufus August 20th 2007 Gentle for Monday.
Across 1 BAY RUM anagram of may rub. In the old days barbers would offer it as an after shave , posh barbers still do. It’s a distillate from Rum and the leaves … Read more >>
Independent 6501 by Phi
A bit more challenging than the usual Phi, but not as satisfying. A lot of tenuous clueing in place of the usual witty word play. Across 1 BORSCHT TH(C+S)ROB<. Fairly tenuous with ‘c’ … Read more >>
Beelzebub/Phi 912 (05-08-07)
I thought this was a cracking puzzle. It looked like it was going to be a lot harder than it turned out to be as my first pass over the across clues yielded … Read more >>
Independent 6496/Nestor
Absolutely brilliant puzzle from Nestor and very possibly the hardest blocked puzzle I’ve solved in recent memory (and there have been some tough Times puzzles over the last couple of weeks). To be … Read more >>
Financial Times 12536/Armonie
Just a short blog for this puzzle as many of the clues don’t really need much explaining. One thing you could never accuse Armonie of is unnecessary complexity in his clueing as the … Read more >>
Guardian 24155 Brendan
This didn’t take me very long, and was short on elation in the solving. Across 9 C EASE F IRE C for constant, ire is anger, ease is to moderate and f for … Read more >>
Independent 6497/Morph
Across 9 (+M)OBS,TER(-M) – an “obsolete expression” would be an OBS TERM. Move the back (M) to the front to get MOBSTER. 10 TO(Y for P)SHOP – I initally thought the fashion retailer … Read more >>
Independent 6490/Phi (04-08-07)
Across 1 PIP in BLOWE(r) 5 TOLD,DO – not a phrase I’d ever come across before but not a tricky one to get from the wordplay. 9 (TELE(-v)ISED)* 10 SILVER – SLIVER with … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,533/Sleuth
My first Sleuth puzzle but I’ve solved a few by the same setter as Hypnos in the Independent. This was a reasonably gentle solve with some nice touches here and there. One query … Read more >>
Beelzebub/Columba 911 29-07-07
The Beelzebub puzzle, published in the magazine section of the Independent on Sunday, is currently set by two setters: Phi does three a month and Columba does one. Columba used to be a … Read more >>
Independent 6494/Nimrod
I managed most of this pretty quickly but there were two answers (10A and 3D) that I filled in because I don’t like leaving blank spaces and these were the only words I … Read more >>
Guardian 24150 Araucaria Party Time
Across 1 POSTGRAD G(ood) substituted for the ‘e’ in Poster, being one of the two advertisements, the other being ‘ad. 5 Not being interested in football I thought long and hard about Ferdinand … Read more >>
Independent 6493/Dac
Across 1 A,CAN in VT 9 TO,FORE in LA (all reversed) – the much-mocked national carrier AEROFLOT. Excellent clue with a great surface. 11 TRADE,SCANT,AI< – last one in. I saw TRADE (for … Read more >>
Coming Soon – the Beezlebub puzzle in the IoS.
From next week we shall be blogging the Beelzebub – a barred puzzle published in the Independent on Sunday magazine. It’s currently compiled by two setters – Phi and Columba – and is usually … Read more >>