Simon Harding

It’s in rather sombre circumstances that I return to blogging the even-numbered Beelzebubs, our other blogger Jed having sadly passed away recently. From what I hear, though, Jed was far from the sort … Read more >>

Beelzebub was excellent company on the slow train back from Sheffield to London last Sunday. Not having acccess to the usual aids, combined with having time to kill, always seems to give me … Read more >>

This seemed to be a relatively manageable week, which was welcome as I didn’t have access to Chambers at the time of solving. There were just one or two minor points to check … Read more >>

A fairly tough week, I think, judging by the amount of cheating I had to do towards the end. 3dn still evades my best attempts to explain it. The grid seemed to fill … Read more >>

I made good smooth progress unaided this week, forced (forced, I tell you) as I was to take shelter from biblical rains in a nearby hostelry without the usual tools at hand. Just … Read more >>

A fairly steady, but certainly not over-easy, solve this week, I found. Many answers fell in smoothly, with a small handful (such as 12, 23 and 2) that I felt I should check … Read more >>

I didn’t notice it while solving, but we’ve an unusual grid with which to work this week. In my own solving and blogging memory, Beelzebub has always been set on a 12*12 grid, … Read more >>

A tough puzzle even by Beelzebub standards, which has taken me until now to finish, let alone explain. Still, I think I’ve managed to cover everything off. Mentions of Twitter and (perhaps) Lady … Read more >>

Initially a fairly mid-paced week for me, but with a real struggle at the end, leaving a few clues unexplained. I’ve reproduced the relevant clues. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. … Read more >>