Guardian

A mix of difficulties for me, with the last few clues taking quite a while. Favourites were 1ac, 14ac, 18ac, 2dn, 4dn, and 24dn. Thanks to Imogen There are a few clues that … Read more >>

A tough challenge from the impaler today, with a political flavour to many of the clues. I see ACE across the middle row – I don’t know if that’s significant. Despite the tricky … Read more >>

Matilda gets a third outing as a cryptic setter today. I have never blogged (or indeed solved) a Matilda puzzle before (I only have time these days to solve puzzles that I am … Read more >>

It’s always a real treat for me to solve and blog (particularly on a Saturday, when there’s more time to ponder over and savour the clues and do some background research) a puzzle … Read more >>

Thanks to Crucible for the themed puzzle. (I probably need correcting for one of the parsings.) Definitions are underlined in the clues. The theme is “clothing”. Across 9. Anonymous report about duke getting … Read more >>

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28211. Firstly, my apologies for missing my slot here last week; I was raring to go, but even if Hurricane Isaias had been downgraded to a Tropical … Read more >>

Pasquale provides today’s midweek challenge.     As usual, we have a wide range of subject-matter – geography, politics, philosophy, theology, history, science, with a couple of popular musicians for good measure. Again, … Read more >>

Thanks to Brummie for a fun puzzle – tricky in parts and with a slightly unhelpful grid… …but the fairly obvious chemistry theme made this a quick solve overall. Favourites were 15ac, 25ac, … Read more >>

A very Monday-ish puzzle from Vulcan today; though light on the cryptic definitions, unusually. A quick but pleasant solve: thanks to Vulcan.             Across 1. BESIDE THE POINT Behind … Read more >>

It’s lovely to get a chance to write a post about a Brendan crossword – he’s one of my favourite setters, and he only appears about once a month in the Guardian. This … Read more >>

A typical Paul puzzle that was not easy but gave up its secrets at a satisfying rate, with a couple of bits of schoolboy humour in the mix. As usual Paul is hosting … Read more >>

Thanks to Nutmeg for an enjoyable puzzle; some nice wordplay indicators. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 8. Leading lady’s retreat just after party goes west (8) BALMORAL : MORAL(just/proper) placed after(after) … Read more >>

For some reason the scheduled blogger has been unable to turn up today so here is an analysis of the clues. Please excuse any typos but cataract removal has made viewing my monitor … Read more >>