Guardian 25,300 / Boatman
Uncle Yap is away so I have the pleasure of covering today’s excellent puzzle. An appropriate theme for the week before Easter, including as it does the ‘cross’, with several clues also being … Read more >>
Independent 7646 by Radian
Tuesday and a sterling effort from Radian, I was a bit nervous after struggling with one or two of his in the past. . When I say sterling, I meant Sterling; Latin isn’t … Read more >>
Independent 7645/Quixote
My first foray into blogging a daily cryptic, so a slightly (actually, very) scary moment. But Quixote’s clear cluing got me over the line eventually, with only a couple of the final solutions … Read more >>
Quiptic 596/Hectence
A well-clued and straightforward puzzle from Hectence today, with only a couple of clues falling into the more difficult category. dd double definition cd cryptic definition (xxxx)* anagram anagrind = anagram indicator Across … Read more >>
Guardian 25,299 / Rufus
I found this trickier than usual for Rufus, but with lots of nice clues – I particularly liked 14a, 4d and 5d. I suspect I’m missing something in 22a… Across 7. OUT OF … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,103 (10/04/11)
Of the last two weeks’ Beelzebub puzzles, I think I got lucky, having struggled to get anywhere with 1,102, and having raced through this one unaided. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,104 by Hypnos
My first non-Quixote Independent on Sunday blog, and this week it’s Hypnos. This – perhaps appropriately – seemed a shade easier than I recall previous Hypnos puzzles being. I had to rely on … Read more >>
AZED No. 2,028 Plain
Nick: Nice AZED this week, which I rate 7/10 on the ‘AZED hardness’ scale. Some novel cluing going on, e.g. 12ac and 23dn. My last in was 20ac, which took me a while to … Read more >>
Everyman No. 3367 (10th April)
Lorraine Morning peeps, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle, up and running the moment I looked at it. A couple of hard anagrams, 16ac and 7dn – but a very strange … Read more >>
Independent 7638 Morph (Sat 9-Apr-2011)
I’m not sure but I think this is his first grid in the Saturday Prize slot. I certainly found it tougher than usual for a Morph, (only 4 answers entered on first pass … Read more >>
Guardian Prize 25,292 / Bonxie
If I wanted to give a title to this puzzle, I think I’d simply borrow one of Shakespeare’s. 🙂 Not so long ago, Bonxie gave us a puzzle where every across clue and … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 961 – Whither Goest Thou? by Charybdis
That title, a grid with a big ‘X’ in the middle, and a preamble indicating that there were eight clashing cells, extra letters in word play would lead to instructions, and a ‘route’ to be … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,669 / Sleuth
At the easier end of Sleuth’s spectrum with 5d, the longest word of the puzzle, falling quickly and supplying helpful letters down the center of the grid. I worked my way from the … Read more >>
Guardian 25,297 – Gordius
A fairly typical Gordius, with some reasonable clues, including some that revealed their secrets very easily, and also quite a few that I have quibbles about. I can’t fully explain 13ac and 26ac, … Read more >>
Independent 7,643/Phi
Great stuff as ever from our resident Friday setter. Elegant surfaces, excellent wordplay, no quibbles. All good. It may be coincidence, but is that a setter’s name Nina that I see in the … Read more >>