Guardian

Solving time 21:35 when last answer (K) was looked up. I think this is the first “alphajig” since we started the blog. They’re an old favourite of mine – before I started doing … Read more >>

In keeping with Orlando’s divided personality, perhaps, there seemed to be an easy half and a difficult half to this puzzle – not that I’m assigning a specific gender to either! I got … Read more >>

Solving time – about 45 mins. This was a real brute of a puzzle from Araucaria. I struggled all the way with it, but there were some obscure words and a couple of … Read more >>

(If I were clever enough, I’d write this entry using only one vowel, but I ain’t, so here goes.)   Solving time – 7 mins Given the restriction that the setter has imposed upon … Read more >>

Quite a bit of complex wordplay in this puzzle. A couple of obscure allusions but nonetheless accessible. Across 1 COM(PUT)E – A tour de force pushing the cryptic envelope: here’s the clue: “Number … Read more >>

Standard fair Rufus. A couple of containment issues below. Curious what people think about their soundness. Across 10 (victo)R+OUGH – Last letter of Victor followed by (Hugo)*. “Poorly” is the definition 11 NEED(L)ED … Read more >>

Solved this when it was published last week, wrote up my notes and then promptly misplaced them which I just discovered. Turns out that solving a puzzle the 2nd time round, when you … Read more >>

A puzzle with a cricketing theme, appropriately enough for a time when the Ashes are being decided. Not sure how much fun this would have been for those with no interest or knowledge … Read more >>

Is it just me, or have the crosswords been getting harder since we started reviewing them? This one took a good half-hour, with half a dozen or so clues coming quickly, then a … Read more >>

Solving time: 13:59, with one careless mistake (22dn) plus another I’m not sure of (1d). Some very clever clues today with largely convincing surfaces, and just a couple of Guardianisms (25ac, 7d), by … Read more >>

Solving time: 20 mins (1 missing) I found the bottom left half harder than the top right, but had almost finished after 10 mins. I then spent another 10 trying unsuccessfully to make … Read more >>

Around 20 minutes. A fairly straightforward puzzle for me with a few long anagrams providing a good start and very fair clues. Across 1 SINGLE FIGURES — This got me for a while … Read more >>

Solving time: 20’ I stared at this puzzle for a few minutes, scanning clues, until one of the long ones clicked: ALL OVER THE PLACE. From that point on things went rather more … Read more >>

I wasn’t paying attention and that’s what I filled in at 11A instead of ATTENTIVE which made the NE corner a spot of bother. Nice puzzle with good balance of clue types. If … Read more >>

Typically Araucarian puzzle with a theme of coloured butterflys. There was a nice bit of deception in the note above the puzzle which said that the four undefined clues “were connected with a … Read more >>