Guardian

Solving time: 9 minutes Sometimes when I encounter what I believe to be a less than adequate puzzle, I tell myself that it’s aimed at the easier end of the scale and solvers … Read more >>

Across: 1. F(L)AB BY. Liver’s heading is L, and times is BY, (as in 15 by 15) which took me a moment to spot. 4. MUSCAT. I feel conviced there are half a dozen other possible … Read more >>

Solving time – approx. 35 mins. I managed to find some time at lunchtime to have a look at this, and was pleased to finish it without resorting to a dictionary (with three … Read more >>

Didn’t realise it was my turn to do the Grauniad; my apologies for the late post. A nice easy start to the week.  I am normally one of Rufus’s harshest critics, but this … Read more >>

Solving time: 17:17, one mistake (4dn/P) The clues for this puzzle were presented in order of their first letters (specified), with each letter used once (and D and J twice). Probably quite a … Read more >>

A clever themed crossword which shows the ambiguity of the English language. Most of the across clues and some of the down clues lead to words which have two conflicting definitions.  Time taken: … Read more >>

Not for the first time a couple of clues for which I don’t understand the wordplay: e.g 26A, 4A, and a few others in which I can imagine what the answer must be. … Read more >>

Solving time : 54 minutes, with one or two not understood and a little bit of reference book and electronic nudging towards the end. I’m not very familiar with Paul, since I avoid … Read more >>

Good stuff – one of two 3 downs for me in the other downs, but lots of decent clues too.   ACROSS: 9.  DER RING DO. Very nice – Bayreuth made me think Wagner … Read more >>

Solving time 15:33 I was racing through this in the usual quickish time of about 6 or 7 minutes, when I finally got to 24A/D and ground to a halt. It must have … Read more >>

Solving time: 11:11 Lots of cryptic definitions today, a couple of which I don’t quite get, and a monster anagram at 2dn/7dn which I solved fairly late in proceedings. Music (3dn): The Box … Read more >>

Solving time – around half an hour in small doses. I was very busy at work today and didn’t even have time for a lunch break, so I solved this in a few … Read more >>

A good puzzle with consistently high quality defs and wordplay (the latter providing clear direction to answers in some cases even when the def was unknown to me). Incidentally had I not known … Read more >>

Solving time: 4:27 Another cracking construction from Brendan, with the rotationally symmetric across clues forming pairs where the first is of the form AB and the second BA, e.g. SIDE ROAD/ROADSIDE and SAUNAS/NASSAU. … Read more >>

Solving time: 24 minutes I sometimes imagine Paul, in his spare time, at the end of Southend Pier, playing his banjo and telling rude jokes to the assembled punters in a straw boater … Read more >>