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Solving time: 35 mins, three missing (14ac, 44ac, 35dn) This Christmas special from Araucaria contained 6 works by Thomas Hardy. I started well enough, spotting the anagram at 18ac to crack the theme … Read more >>

Solving time: 18 mins, one mistake (20dn) This Mona Lisa-themed puzzle might have been straightforward for any art scholars who knew the ten-word phrase at 24ac (anyone?), but I had to work it … Read more >>

Solving time: 21:45, one missing (17ac) Across clues had wordplay leading to the defined answer minus a coin. The (normal) down clues weren’t too bad though so this wasn’t much more difficult than … Read more >>

Solving time: 14:58 Another well-constructed alphabetical jigsaw from Araucaria. When I solved his last one I decided afterwards that I should have tried to fit answers into the grid more quickly, so I … Read more >>

Solving time: 17:58 About the last 10 minutes were spent on two pairs: 16ac/18dn and 19ac/20dn. The first I sorted out once I accepted that 16ac was an &lit (and realised that 24ac … Read more >>

Solving time: 25 mins, one missing (18dn) This puzzle was largely a tribute to Enid Blyton who would have been 110 this year (see 24ac). The bottom half of the puzzle fell out … Read more >>

Solving time: 18:07 Today’s theme is WASHINGTON (14ac), DISTRICT (1ac) of COLUMBIA (16dn). President GEORGE (21dn) is said to have told his FATHER (5ac) “[I] CANNOT TELL A LIE” (10/27ac) when asked if … Read more >>

Solving time: 25 mins, two missing (26ac and 8dn). The ‘cloth hats’ referred to in the preamble were all reptiles (REP = ‘cloth’, TILES = ‘hats’), though unless KOMODO DRAGON at 19dn/29ac (my … Read more >>

Solving time: 14:15 Not too difficult this week from Araucaria, with no monster phrases or multiple cross-references. The top right corner held me up at the end, as did the long down clue … Read more >>

Solving time: 15 mins, one missing (3dn) Another puzzle with an epic answer, this time 14 words long (perhaps certain compilers at the Guardian are having a bit of a competition?), and beautifully … Read more >>

Solving time: 17:17, one mistake (4dn/P) The clues for this puzzle were presented in order of their first letters (specified), with each letter used once (and D and J twice). Probably quite a … Read more >>

Solving time: 11:11 Lots of cryptic definitions today, a couple of which I don’t quite get, and a monster anagram at 2dn/7dn which I solved fairly late in proceedings. Music (3dn): The Box … Read more >>

Solving time: 4:27 Another cracking construction from Brendan, with the rotationally symmetric across clues forming pairs where the first is of the form AB and the second BA, e.g. SIDE ROAD/ROADSIDE and SAUNAS/NASSAU. … Read more >>

Solving time: 15:23 Not for the first time, a puzzle based on the works of Lewis Carroll, specifically Through the Looking-Glass (TTLG) and its chess ‘match’ between the White and Red pieces. About … Read more >>

Solving time: 13:42 It felt as though I made fairly heavy weather of this; the long answers took longer than they should have, especially 11dn, and answers like MARSH GAS for ‘methane’ should … Read more >>