Inquisitor 19 – Handiwork by Ploy
Solving time: an hour or so Approached with trepidation, having downed a convivial pint or two with Ploy at Sloggers and Betters 2, but also having missed the final step in his “Travelling … Read more >>
petebiddlecombe
Independent 6412 / Punk – tough but very good
Solving time 14:05 Punk is also Paul in the Guardian, where I sometimes think he takes the odd liberty too many. Not in this puzzle – I can find nothing to quibble about, … Read more >>
Inquisitor 17 – Subject to Change / Charybdis
Solving time: c. 80 mins A fairly gentle puzzle this one – thematic clues just lead to phrases of words associated with the school subjects mentioned. Enumerations for these indicated which phrases had … Read more >>
Azed 1821 – a tough work-out
Solving time: 59 minutes, with Chambers used after about 30. Although I finished up with a slightly quicker time, I think I understand why last week’s commenter Ali said they were finding this … Read more >>
Independent 6400 / Monk – oho, aha …
Solving time 22:05 I found this very tough, and was grateful for spotting the Nina – palindromes in the unchecked letters on each edge of the grid – DEIFIED, REPAPER, ROTATOR and REVIVER. … Read more >>
New page
We’ve just added a page giving brief details about the setters – Independent only at present, but happy to add the Guardian if someone can chip in with accurate information. Like other ‘general … Read more >>
Azed 1820 – tough for me
Solving time: 64 mins, with Chambers Not sure why this one was substantially harder than the previous week. The problems I remember a week later are finding the beer in 1A, and my … Read more >>
Inquisitor 15 – Space by Schadenfreude
Solving time: 43 minutes – and should have been faster One of those puzzles where the setting achievement seems considerably greater than the solving one. The unclued entries that must be “expanded to … Read more >>
Azed 1819 – making haste fairly slowly
Solving time c. 45 mins in two sittings (without Chambers), but one mistake (or maybe more – see 8D). I’m surprised more crossword setters haven’t had fun with clues for FESTINA LENTE (35A). … Read more >>
Independent 6382 / Morph – better late than never
Solving time: 15 mins? In a bit of blogging confusion I asked eimi for a copy of a puzzle I’d thrown away and thought I had to blog. He sent it with this … Read more >>
Inquisitor 13 / A to Z by Fawley – unlucky for some
Solving time: 10 hours plus, with assistance After bragging somewhere about finishing the first 12 Inquisitor puzzles, I guess it was inevitable that I’d come unstuck on no. 13. This time, it’s my … Read more >>
Independent 6376 / Nimrod – very Nimrod!
A disadvantage of having Sloggers and Betters 2 on a Thursday was that we lost John Henderson (Nimrod and Enigmatist for those who don’t know) to a quiz night – depite being in … Read more >>
Independent 6379 / Dac – tricky doubleton
Solving time 8:40 About 50% slower than usual for Dac, with most trouble in the NE corner where I couldn’t get ‘Bye Bye’ out of my head for 6A, or quite understand 8D. … Read more >>
Inquisitor 11 – A novel approach by Lato
Solving time: about 5 hours, but I cheated. I found the end of this puzzle extremely difficult, not being able to spot the novel for ages. After finding answers to all but a couple … Read more >>
Independent 6364 / Scorpion
Solving time: 15-20 minutes These comments are written after a look back at the puzzle with answers – I discarded my original copy as I forgot I was supposed to be writing this. … Read more >>