Guardian

Solving time – 11:17 Would have been about three minutes quicker but I got stuck on 1ac(!) and 2dn – from the checking letters I saw SANG FROID, which I knew didn’t make … Read more >>

Solving time: Bits and pieces in about 1h For the first time in my (limited) Araucarian experience, nary a cross-referenced clue. Not much need for a dictionary either: though 14D, while making some … Read more >>

Solving time : about 20 minutes. I noticed before writing this that Virgilius appears in the Independent today and that there is, as usual, a theme. Well, this puzzle from Virgilius’s alter ego … Read more >>

Solving time: 16’ Mixture of clichéd crossword idioms and some clever wordplay. As usual, not a shaky surface in sight. Apologies for not posting this yesterday – there’s a complicated story involving Geneva, … Read more >>

Solving time: probably 35’ total with lots of interruptions Everyman grew up in the post-war Observer as Ximenes’s relatively easy puzzle. His guidelines (as I just learned in his “Art of the Crossword”) … Read more >>

The last puzzle from one of the very best setters. Across 1 ACHILLES TENDON – I saw “heel” and stupidly assumed it was there to lead you away from Achilles. Unless it was … Read more >>

An easier day today after yesterday’s toughie from Paul. Auster is a very occasional setter for the Guardian – one or two puzzles a year I think. Across 5 HOARDED – anag of … Read more >>

According to Hugh Stephenson, the Guardian crossword editor, Paul is the toughest of all the setters on the team. This puzzle certainly suggests that he’s not fibbing! My solving time was 29:44. I … Read more >>

Across 1 QUAKERS – r, square (anag). The formal name for the Quakers is the Religious Society of Friends. 5 PELISSE – a long cloak, often with a fur lining. Homophone clue as … Read more >>

Solving time : 45 minute bus journey plus some looking up when I got to work. I had hoped that a Tuesday Guardian puzzle would be a gentle start to my blogging, instead … Read more >>

Solving time: 29’ Rufus puzzles are always fair, fairly straightforward with sensible surface readings and rarely does he use obscure vocabulary. He’s considered at the easy end of the Guardian scale. In this … Read more >>

Today’s Guardian puzzle is the last by the late Bunthorne. More from someone after the competition closing date…

I found it hard to get going with this; I did about 6 clues in 20 minutes and then got stuck. So I did something else for a while, came back to it … Read more >>

Solving time: 45’ Rover is on the more rigorous end of the Guardian scale: he (she?) typically has both clean wordplay and sensible surface readings. Today’s puzzle has some good puns (1A, 17A, … Read more >>

Solving time: 1h+ Ah, Araucaria. The most Ximenean of the crowd in terms of wordplay but absolutely a horror when it comes to meaningful surfaces. Today’s theme is putting out fires. As per … Read more >>