petebiddlecombe – Page 5

Inquisitor 119 – Offcut by Hypnos

Fri April 17, 2009 at 9:19 pmFri April 17, 2009 at 8:08 am by petebiddlecombe

This started as a placeholder post. This was a pretty straightforward puzzle – I managed to see through the trick of making the source of the quote much longer than the quote itself, … Read more >>

Sloggers and Betters 5

Sun June 20, 2010 at 6:55 pmWed April 15, 2009 at 6:42 pm by petebiddlecombe

At long last, our 5th social gathering for the writers and fans of this blog and the puzzles behind it. Well actually “these blogs” – it’s equally open to folk from fifteensquared, Big … Read more >>

Azed 1921 – Tips for Eightsome Reels

Mon March 23, 2009 at 10:59 pm by petebiddlecombe

This is one of the easiest of the regular Azed specials for me – even though this explanation may sound complicated. Each answer can be entered in 16 different ways, which sounds difficult. … Read more >>

Inquisitor 115 – In Memoriam by Schadenfreude

Thu March 19, 2009 at 10:23 pm by petebiddlecombe

Solving time: about 2 hours, with reference help This puzzle presented thematic material in a novel way in the grid, and from each clue. We were told that the perimeter contained a writer … Read more >>

Azed 1919 – Azed for beginners

Mon March 16, 2009 at 5:57 pmSun March 15, 2009 at 12:23 am by petebiddlecombe

Solving time: 27:40, with Chambers used for the last three – 25/26/27. As promised, I’m going into more detail than usual to help solvers who are unfamiliar with Azed puzzles to use this … Read more >>

Azed 1919 – Have a go …

Thu March 12, 2009 at 9:30 pm by petebiddlecombe

Those who think Azed is beyond them might like to try this puzzle. I solved it in pretty short order, and I’m due to blog it on Sunday. I’m going to mention points … Read more >>

Inquisitor 111 – Piano Practice by Nutmeg

Sat February 21, 2009 at 7:17 amFri February 20, 2009 at 8:34 pm by petebiddlecombe

In each row’s pair of answers, one letter moved from one clue to the other, the moving letters giving two words, thematically described by 4 down. There were four unclued downs also matching … Read more >>

Azed 1913 – Plain

Sun February 1, 2009 at 3:31 pm by petebiddlecombe

Solving time: about 70 minutes in 3 bursts, with Chambers used for last 15 or so answers. Some of this was pretty straightforward, but I was held up a long time by 17/23 … Read more >>

Inquisitor 107 – Syndrome by Loda

Fri January 23, 2009 at 1:11 pm by petebiddlecombe

Solving time: not applicable! I’d started this puzzle and then left it for a bit with theme undiscovered, when another Inquisitor blogger forwarded me an e-mail about it. This gave away a good … Read more >>

“How to master the Times Crossword” by Tim Moorey

Sat November 15, 2008 at 6:18 pmSat November 15, 2008 at 4:43 pm by petebiddlecombe

This is obviously more relevant for readers of another blog, but if you have friends in need of help with broadsheet dailies, it does a good job for these puzzles in general as … Read more >>

Azed 1897 – Competition puzzle

Wed October 15, 2008 at 3:31 pmSun October 12, 2008 at 12:45 am by petebiddlecombe

Solving time: 36 minutes, with Chambers used for about the last 30% of answers. One query left from me about wordplay – so maybe a wrong answer (34), one minor slip-up by Azed … Read more >>

Inquisitor 91 – Open Wide by Nutmeg

Mon October 6, 2008 at 10:08 amFri October 3, 2008 at 12:41 pm by petebiddlecombe

I forgot to solve this puzzle when I should have done, but when I recieved a “where’s that blog?” e-mail, decided I ought to be able to solve the puzzle, given that I … Read more >>

Inquisitor 87 – SQUADS by Hypnos

Fri September 5, 2008 at 11:25 am by petebiddlecombe

Solving time: maybe 10 hours Many readers of crossword blogs will know by now that I had surgery on a brain tumour near the end of July. After taking a while to rebuild … Read more >>

Azed 1889

Sun August 17, 2008 at 10:47 pm by petebiddlecombe

Solving time 43:08, Chambers used when grid about half full – but one probable wrong answer. A fairly straightforward puzzle I think – took about half as long as Mephisto. In my current … Read more >>

Inquisitor 79 – Cause and effect by Schadenfreude

Sat July 12, 2008 at 7:56 am by petebiddlecombe

This was a fairly gentle puzzle from Schadenfreude – the challenge was to idenitfy the empty cells where the cause and effect were to be entered, “thus thwarting an attempt to save the … Read more >>