Beelzebub

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 >>

Tough and satisfying         Across 1 Use of imitation promises hokum, possibly SKEUOMORPHISM (PROMISES HOKUM)* 11 Fellows I’d recalled accepting bit of henna, displaying this? MEHNDI &lit H[enna] in MEN … 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 >>

Devilishly cunning         Across 1 Crotchet (C in piano) affected note for tuning CONCERT PITCH (CROTCHET C IN P)* 9 Good pull partially retracted hairstyle UPDO – hidden backwards in … 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 >>

Delightfully difficult         Across 1 Aim? To be so exclusive? ONE IN A MILLION I (one) in A M (a million) 10 I note woman importing fashionable source of dye … 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 >>

Excellent cerebral workout         Across 1 Sheridan hero set to embrace extreme characters? TEAZLE (Sir Peter) AZ (extreme characters) in TELE (set) 5 Department probing PSVs about legal requirement? TAX … 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 >>

Cracking  stuff         Across 1 Italian author dull, penning one declaration appreciating the environment ECOLOGICALLY ECO (Umberto) I (one) CALL (declaration) in LOGY (dull) 10 Votes against introducing new day … 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 >>

Terrific puzzle from the prince of the fallen angels         Across 1 Endless bad beer, not weak for local soak SIPE SWIPER bad beer minus W (weak) and last letter … 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 >>

A pleasure to solve and to blog         Across 3 Unease, with male garrison going to dance DISCOMFORT DISCO (dance) M (male) FORT (garrison) 10 Trucks run out, leaving roads … 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 >>