Beelzebub

As always Beelzebub provides variety with clarity. *=anag   <=reversed    ( )=dropped ACROSS 1   SEPTET PTE in SET 5   SLUICE SLU(b) +ICE 10  ASPERSIONS AS + I in PERSONS 12 … Read more >>

Another unaided solve this week, although I admittedly made a couple of slips which I was later able to correct by checking Chambers. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Across 1 … Read more >>

I believe this to be the one hundredth Beelzebub I have blogged here, and it was something a little different to celebrate the Christmas season. The preamble told us that: Solvers can choose … Read more >>

Judging by the mess I’ve made of the grid, I must have found this one pretty tough going. Having said that, on blogging there doesn’t appear to be anything particular troublesome in there. … Read more >>

Perhaps a shade tougher than last week, but things fell into place relatively smoothly. There are a couple (5dn and 23dn) where I can see roughly what’s going on, but haven’t quite nailed … Read more >>

A rather overdue blog, I’m afraid, though I’ve no excuses as this was one of the easier Beelzebubs in some time. I managed all but three of four squares unaided, before reaching for … Read more >>

Despite a relatively sprightly start, this became quite a tough one to blog, with a lot of obscure terms knocking about. In the end I think I’ve almost explained things, with a few … Read more >>

A good week – not too hard or too easy, though the SW corner put up a fight for me. Highlights were learning that there is an anagram of GYMNAST, and that there … Read more >>

A tough week, I think. At least, I had to rely heavily on Chambers while both solving and blogging. 3dn evades my explanation for the time being. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, … Read more >>

I’ve once again made the mistake of waiting far too long between solving and blogging to really remember much about this one. The lack of scrawls, notes and correction fluid on the grid … Read more >>

A very tough one this week, I found, with lots of new vocabulary. Blogging without Chambers in front of me, I suspect I may have wrongly hyphenated a couple here. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, … Read more >>

I found this to be the toughest Beelzebub for some time, and I had only a handful solved before reaching for various aids. I think it was just the vocab that was my … Read more >>

The pattern for me recently seems to be to make a good start and then get really, really stuck on the last couple of clues. This again happened here, with the NE corner … Read more >>

Interesting week for me, this one. I made a good start, but found it very difficult to finish off. Still, here it is, finally. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Across … Read more >>