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Solving time: 42 mins; one missing (1ac). A common feature of Araucaria’s puzzles is the inclusion of very long phrases spanning multiple clues with very complex wordplay. This week’s complementary phrases were SOMETHING … Read more >>

Solving time: 22:12 I made heavy weather of this, especially the key long answer (16ac) and the top left corner, and I can’t explain 4dn. No main theme that I could spot, but … Read more >>

Solving time: Got out Chambers and my A-Z after about 1hr 15min. The double puzzle was based on the name ‘Leon’. Grid A contained pairs of answers which when joined with ‘le’ gave … Read more >>

Solving time: Resorted to references after 30 mins with five clues left (starred below), and a mistake. Following hot on the heels of Paul’s Beethoven-themed crossword last week comes a homage to Mozart … Read more >>

Solving time: 10:36 The ‘same person’ referred to in the preamble is Ludwig van Beethoven: “E 1”, “O 1” and “N 1” refer cryptically to “Beethoven’s 3rd“, “6th” and “9th” symphonies (see 1dn), … Read more >>

Solving time: About 30 minutes, plus a later look to get the last three clues (asterisked); one mistake. After 10 minutes I think I had solved two and a half clues. Eventually I … Read more >>

Solving time: 11:46 Amusing theme this week centred on 15ac involving several across answers (and 22dn), giving me an ideal excuse for a football rant. Steve McClaren wouldn’t even have been on my … Read more >>

Solving time: 14:48 The preamble to this puzzle read: “Lands here are 4-ed [linked] (as our non-PC forebears would think) by 14 down [‘The missing’].” The grid contains eight countries. At first I … Read more >>

Solving time: 20:15 I was pretty slow to spot the thematic bits, which were many and crucial, so I’m not too disappointed with the time. In fact I’m pleased just to have completed … Read more >>

Solving time: about 14 mins + a bit of guesswork on 1dn, which I got wrong. The three starred clues, of which two were fairly straightforward despite being clued without definition, led to … Read more >>

Solving time: 10 minutes, one mistake (7 dn). This felt a cavalier solve, with numerous across clues to which I didn’t look closely at the wordplay while solving (e.g. 1, 11, 14, 18, … Read more >>

Solving time: 30 mins or so, plus about another 10 with Wikipedian assistance to solve 1dn, 10ac and 2dn in the top left and 22ac and 18dn in the bottom right. In stark … Read more >>

Solving time: 10:57 When I started doing the Guardian I wasn’t so keen on Paul’s puzzles, simply because I wasn’t used to the more liberal style. Now I’m more familiar with Guardianese he’s … Read more >>

Solving time: 20:01. One mistake (2dn) so the last 3 of those minutes were wasted! I know the Guardian allows its setters much more licence than most publications (and that some setters are … Read more >>