Guardian

Solving time: 11:50 Having seen the thematic cross-referencing I looked at, and solved, 17ac (TUBING) straight away, so should really have been quicker than this; slowness on two of the three long thematic … Read more >>

This was quite tough, and I had to give up after I’d done about 75% of it.  When I got home from work, I attaked the NW corner, and eventually finished after more … Read more >>

Solving time 5:44 That was probably the easiest crossword I’ve ever done in the Guardian. Probably the only tricky word was 19ac, but it was an expression I knew from somewhere, so no … Read more >>

I’m indebted to one of our regular commenters – stan – for this blog as we had a bit of a mix up this week and I assigned a puzzle to a blogger … Read more >>

My Sheffield education was provided to me by the movie “The Full Monty” and the occasional Eurosport broadcast of an endless snooker match at The Crucible. Oh yes there are a couple of … Read more >>

Across 1 BAY RUM anagram of may rub. In the old days barbers would offer it as an after shave , posh barbers still do. It’s a distillate from Rum and the leaves … Read more >>

Solving time: 9:29 A chocolate theme this week, with four examples of ‘centres’, i.e. the gooey bits in the middle. Overall probably a bit easier than usual for Paul. * = anagram, “X” … Read more >>

Not a cross-reference in sight nor a long anagram. Was this really Araucaria? I can’t even detect a theme of sorts. Now that I’ve said this, will someone prove me wrong? Across 1 … Read more >>

 It was mostly quite easy, but with a fiendish top right corner that held me up for ages, and I messed up on two clues early on, which didn’t help. Only finished properly … Read more >>

Well, this wasn’t too difficult at all, much to my surprise. I forgot to set the timer going, but I solved it in around 15 or 16 minutes. There were still some tricky … Read more >>

This didn’t take me very long, and was short on elation in the solving. Across 9 C EASE F IRE C for constant, ire is anger, ease is to moderate and f for … Read more >>

My favourite clues combine Rufus’s trademark cryptic definitions with wordplay, so as to keep you guessing for longer – 5 and 11 across require unravelling, whereas 17 across couldn’t be anything else. ACROSS: … Read more >>

Solving time: 10:16 A really good puzzle this week and much more accurate than normal for the Guardian, with some very elegant clues and clever definitions. Should have been faster but for ‘phenomenal’ … Read more >>

Not the easiest puzzle to return to from France. Puck and Paul must have gone to the same school of cryptic wizardry if their senses of humor are anything to go by. The … Read more >>

Apologies for late posting. I’ve been off work, but looking after my 11-month old niece who has asthma and chicken-pox, which didn’t seem to leave much time for blogging – now I remember … Read more >>