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Solving time: 9 mins This puzzle was snooker-themed, and published to coincide with the conclusion to the snooker World Championship at the Crucible in which Neil Robertson of Australia became only the second … Read more >>

Solving time: 5 minutes A welcome return for Paul to the Saturday slot. For a prize puzzle this was surprisingly straightforward but still very enjoyable. It also made me very hungry with so … Read more >>

Solving time: 13 mins The theme here was British World War II aircraft, not really my forte although I had heard of most of these (apart from the Vickers Wellington at 27ac); of … Read more >>

Solving time: 25 mins, 2 missing (11ac, 2dn) After blitzing the bottom half of this I thought I was on for a very fast time but then came to a grinding halt. ROACH … Read more >>

Solving time: 65 mins, 4 missing (DUNCIAD, CINERARIA, LEDUM, JONQUIL) This was hard, and time constraints forced me to give up with four gaps although for a long time I thought it would … Read more >>

Solving time: 14 mins The eight answers referred to in the preamble as being clued without definition are all poets, and as suggested by 8dn they appear in the ‘corners’ of the puzzle. … Read more >>

Solving time: 33 mins This was hard, and I was grateful for a couple of hackneyed clues at 12ac (INCA) and 28ac (DETERGENT) to get me going. The theme (abbreviations for days of … Read more >>

Solving time: About 20 mins plus another day for 4dn An impressive 15 thematic answers were crammed into this, not to mention the pleasingly symmetric answer at 13,19,22ac which hints at their link … Read more >>

Solving time: Fail. The theme here was American states, of which there are an impressive 12 in the grid (plus references to more in the clues), but this was easy to spot and … Read more >>

Solving time: 14 mins I don’t think I’ve ever finished a crossword having understood so few of the solutions! It took me at least as long again to fathom them all out. As … Read more >>

Solving time: 35 mins, 3 mistakes (ZEND, YAWL and COMPRADOR). This was a tough and enjoyable ‘Araubetical’ with a well-constructed grid and about the right amount of obscurity for a prize puzzle. I … Read more >>

Solving time: About 8 mins This was fairly straightforward but took me longer than it should have because of the redesigned website. First impressions were not sparkling but I see this has been … Read more >>

Solving time: 11 mins Overall, much more accurately-clued than Araucaria’s Saturday crossword two weeks previously. In fact his puzzles vary so much in style from week to week that sometimes I wonder if … Read more >>

Solving time: Best part of a week before using references for 4ac and 1dn. Sometimes it all goes wrong; this was such an occasion, and I got totally stuck on two clues, despite … Read more >>

Solving time: 10 mins Not too difficult this week but there were several dubious clues in this (e.g. 11ac, 20ac, 1dn, 3dn, 16dn); not Araucaria’s finest, I thought. Music of the day (5dn): … Read more >>