Private Eye/Cyclops 478 – Rodent sandwich
An enjoyable solve. Although more than half fell in the first pass, the rest needed deconstruction of some interesting wordplay. Solving and blogging this took place at a time when there was a … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,177
Apologies that this one seemed to fall through the cracks. Whilst interest may have passed, here it is for completeness. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Across 2 SYMMETRICAL – (MY … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,179 by Hypnos
This is the second time in a row that I’ve drawn Hypnos on a Sunday, and no complaints about that from me. I sometimes find Hypnos to be on the tougher side compared … Read more >>
Everyman No. 3442 (23rd September)
Lorraine: Good morning Everyman lovers, Well I have to begin by saying that first in was 21dn, then that was it for a wee while. Then I got the clue that popped up a … Read more >>
Guardian Genius 111 / Enigmatist
This is my six-monthly venture into the world of Genius blogging. Seeing Enigmatist’s name as the setter made me think that this puzzle would be a mite challenging. So it proved to be. … Read more >>
Azed 2103 / Plain
This seemed to be a standard Azed puzzle with excellent clues and the usual mix of everyday and obscure vocabulary in the grid. There was a good mix of clue … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1036: Approximate & Appropriate by Moordon
‘And’, so it goes on – if you read last week’s rant from Mister Sting… This week’s preamble tells us to replace ‘parts of’ 14 clue answers – as ‘forms’ of 26A. All very … Read more >>
Independent 8,094 by Morph (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 22/09/12)
A change in format for me this week as I experiment with PeeDee‘s rather nifty blog post maker. I’ll have to try out the various options, but so far I like it as … Read more >>
Guardian Prize Puzzle 25,748 by Araucaria
If there was any doubt that Araucaria is king of the alphabetical jigsaw then surely it has now gone , or nearly… First a reminder of the instructions: Solutions should be fitted into the grid … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,121 by Alberich
Another smasher from Alberich Across 1 MONEY-SPINNER (spider) and plan to make rich (rolling) 10 RETIREE (no longer working) RE (on) TIREE (isle) 11 DIGITAL (clock) GIT (stupid sort) in … Read more >>
Guardian 25,753 – Araucaria
An enjoyable puzzle with a mini-theme that was up my street, making it mostly an easy stroll for me, except that I can’t fully explain the crucial 3,12 (though getting the answer was … Read more >>
Independent 8099 / Phi
I made steady progress through this puzzle from Phi. There were a couple of words that I only come across in crosswords, but overall this was a puzzle that did not dip into … Read more >>
Financial Times no.14,120 by FLIMSY
A fairly rare Thursday outing for Flimsy, and a solid, well-rounded puzzle. There are some fantastic surfaces and quite a few &lits and quasi-&lits (usually involving a word doing double duty), which always … Read more >>
Independent 8098/Mordred
A very pleasantly-constructed crossword from Mordred today. The fact that at times here I’m not quite sure doesn’t detract from what seems to be a good tight efficient display of clueing. I remarked the other … Read more >>
Guardian 25,752 – Boatman
Found this quite tricky to start with, but fairly enjoyable. Favourite clue 11ac. Across 7 NATALIE =”Girl” (Taline a)* 8 GALLEON =”ship” GAL=girl + LEON=boy 10 GLORIA =”girl” (original)*, minus IN=”home” 11 ALASTAIR … Read more >>