Guardian 25,768 – Shed
Shed is always challenging and many of his clues can only be solved by the backward method of hazarding a likely answer and then working back to justify the wordplay. Even so, I … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 674 / Orlando
Orlando is one of a couple of Quiptic setters whose puzzles I always enjoy solving. Today I wasn’t disappointed. Most of the definitions given are from Chambers 11th Edition. Most of the standard … Read more >>
Guardian 25,767 – Audreus
Nice to see one of Audreus’s rare appearances in the Monday slot (and we can confidently predict her son Shed for tomorrow). This was mostly easy going, with a striking number of clues … Read more >>
Independent 8113/Quixote
Another accessible but well-constructed Monday puzzle from Quixote. Lots of different devices, including some clever anagrams, and some nice story-telling surfaces. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition (xxxx)* anagram anagrind … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 479 – Money Laundering
I solved this one before I realised I was going to blog it and haven’t made any contemporaneous notes. I can’t even remember which was the first clue answered, nor which was the … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,179
I’d hesitate to say this was an especially easy week for Beelzebub, but I did manage to complete the puzzle unaided, in one sitting, which is something of a rarity. It would be … Read more >>
AZED No. 2,105 ‘Collisions’ COMPETITION PUZZLE
Nick: For a special, I found this rather easy, so 6/10 for me, but 9/10 for the cleverness. Incidently, this blog took me longer to do than the puzzle 😀 First, the preamble, so … Read more >>
Everyman No. 3444 (7th October)
Lorraine: Good morning happy solvers, Nice Sunday morning solve with nothing too taxing. First in was 6dn and last in was 4ac. Favourites this week are; 11, 13 and 22ac, 1, 6, 14 and … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1181 Raich
An IoS towards the harder end of the spectrum, I thought. There were quite some answers that had to be teased out, including the 4 long anagrams, of which I found 8 down … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 1038 Difficulty by MynoT
So a puzzle with a title of Difficulty – but no indication of its level of difficulty. Nine letters are missing from the subsidiary indications and this then needs to be used to … Read more >>
Independent 8106 by Nimrod (Saturday Prize Puzzle 6 Oct 2012)
Nurse! My medication, please! This fiendishly clever and involved Saturday Prize puzzle from Nimrod almost reduced me to a gibbering wreck…or rather to more of one… Where to start? Several linked clues; some … Read more >>
Guardian 25,760 / Araucaria
We thought this was a pretty tough prize puzzle, in the context of those from the previous few weeks. That was probably largely due to a theme that was difficult for us, and … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,133 – Redshank
This was another excellent crossword by Redshank full of nice twists and turns, including the inevitable subtraction anagrams. After today’s FT blooper one cannot expect Jed to write another blog. Therefore I am happy to … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,131 by Cinephile
Masterly polychromic strokes Across 9 ONE ACROSS (not in this puzzle) (OCEAN)* ROSS (sea) 10 AZURE (heraldic colour) sounds like HAS YOUR (common) 11 PURPURE (heraldic colour) PUR[e] PURE (clean) … Read more >>
Independent 8111 / Phi
We’re always pleased to solve a Phi-day puzzle at the end of the week. We started off thinking that this was a fairly easy puzzle until we ground to a halt about two-thirds … Read more >>