Guardian

I don’t think I’ve come across Arachne before, but I enjoyed the puzzle. The clues were mostly fair, although some were quite tricky and four living people – all politicians – appeared in … Read more >>

Just some quick notes about this puzzle written up a day after I solved (and re-solved!) the puzzle. Quite a few clever Pauline (not Paulene!) fun and games. Some post-post editing thanks to … Read more >>

Solving time: 30’ Quite a few whimsical and cryptic allusions. I didn’t really enjoy this puzzle but probably because I’m a bit burnt out having just done The Times as well (“it’s not … Read more >>

Solving time: 13 minutes A straightforward start to the week from one of the masters of the cryptic definition.  Nothing too troublesome, although a tiny grumble for the purists might be he use … Read more >>

Solving time: About 20 mins for all but 19dn and 23ac. One other mistake (16dn). A porcellanous theme this week, featuring Crown Derby, Royal Worcester, Wedgwood, Spode and Minton. Not exactly my specialist … Read more >>

Solving time:  27 minutes It is lovely to be able to blog the doyen of crossword setters, but we get off to the wrong start with the grid design.  I really dislike this … Read more >>

Then fall, Tony! Thrice hath the crowd asked Caesar to stay, but… That’s showbiz! Maybe Blair will follow his old mate Clinton and set a special crossword?  ( http://www.nytimes.com/ref/crosswords/clintonpuz.html ) if you haven’t seen it). I … Read more >>

Solving time: approx. 20 mins Paul’s normally pretty tricky, but this one was quite easy and I should have finished much faster. A good percentage of the acrosses went in straight away, as … Read more >>

  In my mind, while solving this puzzle, I was thinking that this preamble would say how easy this crossword was, then I came across a word I didn’t know, but was able … Read more >>

Solving time: 20’ The recent setters table on this site has had me wondering about the Ximenean vs. Libertarian classification – Rufus has been tagged as the latter. This puzzle has convinced me: … Read more >>

Solving time: 8:15 An easier puzzle than usual from Paul, with no 10ac that I could see. Beginners’ tips: ‘criminal’ = FENCE, ‘fairy’ = PERI, ‘essay’ = TRY, ‘kiss’ = X. * = … Read more >>

Solving time: 35’ More than one instance in which clear wordplay led to a new word (THALLI, SINICISM, CHOTA, OGIVES, ADENITIS) or a familiar word had me reverse engineering the wordplay (DIE HAPPY). … Read more >>

Solving Time:  14 minutes I picked this up while munching on my Wheatybangs and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Orlando is, one of the setters on the Graun that is taken for granted; his puzzles contain … Read more >>

‘The dog for me’ (6dn)… well, I don’t think Chifonie’s an Afghan, so it probably had to be setter, didn’t it!  That one was a bit obvious to seasoned hands, but there are some nice clues … Read more >>