Guardian Quiptic

I was feeling particularly leaden, and made heavy weather of solving this, but in writing it up there does not seem to be anything to struggle over: mostly straightforward charades and envelopes. Across … Read more >>

It’s the first time I’ve blogged a puzzle by Moley, and I was pleased when her name came up because I’ve enjoyed her Quiptics in the past. I enjoyed this too and thought … Read more >>

A somewhat pessimistic offering from Hectence, in tune with the economic climate of recession, shortages and cuts. Most of the surfaces were good and the answers gettable, although I have one or two … Read more >>

I had the great pleasure to meet Orlando a few months ago.  If you haven’t already seen his “Best for Puzzles” site then it is well worth a look, especially for the comprehensive … Read more >>

I think this one fills the Quiptic slot very well, with no obscurities of vocabulary, construction  or references. ACROSS 1 PANATELLA Anagram (‘change’) of ‘lent  a pal’ + ‘a’. 6 COST Envelope of … Read more >>

It might have been post-Crimbo lethargy on my part, but I found this hard going in places, with some convoluted clues and a term I’d never heard of before. However, there were some … Read more >>

There are a few seasonal answers in this otherwise very ordinary crossword. As with the previous Moley puzzle that I reviewed, there are several extra words thrown in purely for the surface reading. … Read more >>

Some pretty straightforward cluing from Mr.  Putnam today – it was only my fuzziness after a poor night’s sleep that prevented me seeing most of them on the first run through.  The anagrams … Read more >>

A grid with a fair number of unchecked first letters, but straightforward clue construction overcame that potential hazard. ACROSS 8 MEMSAHIB Charade of MEMSA – anagram (‘possibly’) of ‘Emmas’ – + HI (‘greeting’) … Read more >>

A pleasing puzzle from Hectence, with a couple of very clever clues as well as some tricky ones. Well, I found them tricky, but that could be because I stayed up far too … Read more >>

An entertaining puzzle from Pan, with some delightful surfaces and a variety of resources. ACROSS 1. ARMISTICE Charade of AR(ab) + I(n) C(harge) in an anagram of *TIMES 6.  CREAM Charade of E(xtasis)=’drug’ … Read more >>

No problems with today’s offering from Arachne.  My favourite clue was 9 across. All definitions given are from Chambers 11th Edition or the Oxford Dictionary of English. Most of the standard abbreviations used … Read more >>

I found this one more difficult than many a Guardian Cryptic. Several of the entries seemed at first to have far too much clue for the answer, which is generally a sign that … Read more >>

Orlando isn’t a regular setter of the Quiptic (this is his first outing this year as far as I can see), but he has produced a most enjoyable and accessible puzzle for us … Read more >>

When I noticed that this puzzle had yet to be reviewed, I put this together hastily.  Several of the clues seemed to have words added solely for the surface reading, and the missing … Read more >>