Independent 8496 / Scorpion
Everything has settled down again after the recent festivities and we are back into a normal week of Independent crosswords. Scorpion has given us a good offering today. I managed … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 738 / Nutmeg
With the exception of a handful of clues I didn’t enjoy this puzzle, and thought that some of the complex wordplay was out of place in a Quiptic. I hope someone can improve … Read more >>
Guardian 26,149 by Rufus
A new year but Rufus is still going strong, lower than usual count of CD and DD clues I felt. The usual mix of stuff, was thinking there weren’t any anagrams as I went … Read more >>
Independent 8495 by Alchemi
*=anagram [] = removed e.g. char[m]=char ()=abbreviation e.g. A(mpere)=a Hom. = homophone I thought this was an excellent and well-balanced puzzle with a nice mixture of clues. There were plenty of easier clues … Read more >>
Private Eye / Cyclops 511 – Xmas 2013 – It’s a Winner
Thank goodness there were a few days over the festive period to devote to a massive puzzle or two. This one took me quite a while, not only from the sheer size … Read more >>
Guardian 26,142 / Crucible
(Apologies for the late appearance of this post – all my fault.) This was an excellent seasonal puzzle from Crucible, with a nice level of difficulty for a prize puzzle. The special instructions … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1244 / Crosophile
My apologies for this post being a week late. The scheduled blogger didn’t turn up and I failed to notice this because the recent festivities have meant that some closing dates for entries … Read more >>
Guardian 26,142 / Crucible
My apologies. A blog for this puzzle should have appeared yesterday but something seems to have prevented the scheduled blogger from posting. I had initially assumed that the closing date for entries had been extended … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,243
A slightly strange week for me. On the one hand I seemed to struggle greatly, having to resort to aids with only a few answers written in, yet on the other there doesn’t … Read more >>
Everyman No. 3508 (29th December)
Nick: Me again folks, Lorraine has been laid up with flu for 5 days. Fairly tough for an Everyman, I thought, but some great anagram work going on. I have a slight query with … Read more >>
Guardian Genius 126 / Crucible
Given the “Special instructions: 16 is displayed in all other solutions. All clues lack definitions.” my first step was to look at 16ac but I could not parse the clue other than to … Read more >>
Azed 2169
This was the final Azed puzzle of 2013 and was a standard plain puzzle comprising elegant cluing for a range of well known and obscure words, all of which can be found in … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1245 Kairos
There were a couple of clues that, having got the answers, required a bit more time to parse. Enjoyed the challenge, thanks to Kairos. Definitions are underlined in the clues. [[The pictures at … Read more >>
Azed 2168/CCCP
A Christmas Crossword Celebration Party! I think this one is a bit harder than the 1913 instance. Though I have to say that having struggled with Pointer’s Listener, this felt like R&R. Missing … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1101: Prevention by Charybdis
Charybdis is one of my favourite setters (mind you I’ve got quite a few). His puzzles are always sound and often quirky… like his recent Listener, #4268 Check This Out last November. Here … Read more >>