Financial Times 13,453 – Dante
Monday Prize Crossword on 2 August 2010 We are back to the slick smoothie to give us a gentle start to the FT week. As usual, there is this generous serving of concise … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,452 by Cincinnus
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of July 31 This strikes me as a mediocre Cincinnus puzzle (although with Cincinnus, mediocre is still jolly fine). My faves are 13A (MAT), 2D (BRIGHTON), 6D … Read more >>
Independent 7432/Dac
The usual tightly-constructed crossword from Dac, with all the clues very simple once they’re got, but not always so easy beforehand. Across 1 BASTIA — asti in (AB)rev. 5 FACE MASK — f … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,461 / Gozo
A very quick solve for me today and there should have been nothing in this puzzle to cause anyone problems, apart from perhaps part of the wordplay in 1ac and the answer in … Read more >>
Guardian 25,086 – Arachne
I’m not a huge fan of grids such as this where the long clues can somewhat spoil the fun if you get them early or lock you out of a corner if you … Read more >>
Independent 7431 by Tyrus
Tyrus today a relatively gentle introduction for me. Nina today from Father Ted with quite a few references in the answers too, including their Eurovision song. 7 Anastasia – Hidden backawards in Australi(a … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,460 / Armonie
This was a very quick solve, but the usual smooth concise clues from Armonie. I thought 11 down and 20 down were particularly good. Across 1 LONG SHOT dd 5 SCARCE SCAR (deface) … Read more >>
Guardian 25085 – Gordius
Today’s offering from Gordius is not too complicated if you know a lot of not-so-well-known names as Gordius name-dropped left, right and centre. Without access to Google, I do not think I would … Read more >>
Independent 7430 by Phi
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism I started looking at this when it appeared on the web site last night and did a double take when I saw it was … Read more >>
Guardian 25084 / Rufus
A fun puzzle from Rufus, with lots of anagrams and cryptic definitions. Across 1. CACKLE Cryptic definition: to “cut the cackle” is to stop talking 4. MASTHEAD AM reversed + SAD = “unhappy” … Read more >>
Everyman No. 3331 (1st August)
Lorraine: Nice easy puzzle this week, thank you Mr. Everyman. I have a small query in 17dn. Please note the spelling mistake in 1dn. as published in the electronic versions; sorry to be … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1068 by Quixote – 1st August 2010
A somewhat unusual puzzle this week with one very long answer filling many of the across spaces. We didn’t know the saying, so had to work it out from the anagram, which was … Read more >>
Azed 1992
What you always get from Azed: apparently tortuous clues, but everything’s do-able so long as you persevere with all the wading through Chambers, because all the clueing is completely sound. Across 1 WIT-CRACKER … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,067 (01/08/10)
This was one of those that went in very quickly indeed, but that I couldn’t quite finish unaided. In fact, if anyone got 15ac purely from the anagram then I’d be very impressed! … Read more >>
Guardian 25,077 (Sat 31 Jul)/Pasquale – Past masters
Solving time: 12 mins Pasquale is one of the most Ximenean of The Guardian’s setters (i.e. his clues generally make good cryptic sense) which usually means a fast solve. This wasn’t the case … Read more >>