Never knowingly undersolved
This is a very foxy puzzle with a mini-theme that I almost missed. The clues are varied and employ many devices to bemuse and amuse. Very entertaining. Across 1 DECOCT It takes months … Read more >>
Another good puzzle with a good range of clue types, but I wonder how many solvers from South of the Border knew the Scottish word for shudder. Most of the definitions given are … Read more >>
Pretty typical Rufus I felt this morning, shed loads of double definitions which aren’t really my favourite clue type. Andrew is away, so I’m standing in, AMP and BROAD appear twice in the … Read more >>
The preamble read as follows: Ten solutions can also be 30, initially. Any secondary definition or wordplay in their clues leads to the solution as it might appear if it were, indeed, 30 of any 26 12 before 22 down 22 across. … Read more >>
I make this Philistine’s first prize puzzle, and their twelfth puzzle overall in the Guardian. This was a good fun puzzle to solve – with the odd exception (1a, 17d) I thought this … Read more >>
Again, I have had a problem (quite different this time) with a utility. Is it out to get me? At least, I am getting adept at the work-around.
An interesting and entertaining puzzle from Brummie, which turned out to be more straightforward than it looked at first sight. There are some clever and amusing surfaces, some of which may be a … Read more >>
There seemed to be less to nitpick about here than I usually find in Gordius puzzles, but not a great deal to get excited about either, with a lot of very easy clues, … Read more >>
A brisk morning canter … nothing too esoteric or obscure although I was disconcerted by a few unusual abbreviations not found in Chambers. I have donated all my dead-tree copies of dictionaries to … Read more >>
Liked a lot of clues in this, especially 24ac, 27ac, 2dn and 8dn. A couple of question marks over 16ac and 7dn. Across 1 MANAGED =”Coped” M[eeting] + (agenda)* 5 TIDE RIP cryptic … Read more >>
I had some trouble with the blogging utilities, so I hope the results make some kind of sense.
It’s an even greater pleasure than usual to blog an Araucaria puzzle on the day the Guardian published an interview with him. Despite his recent revelation, there is no sign of any decline … Read more >>
What a treat, at the end of a week of excellent puzzles, to get a lovely puzzle from Arachne! Not quite such a tussle as it often is but full of the characteristic … Read more >>
After Araucaria’s announcement of his cancer a couple weeks ago, every new crossword he produces is surely one to treasure. It seems to be very much business as usual with this one, with … Read more >>
This crossword may be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/crosswords/cryptic/25852.