Guardian 25,031 – Gordius
I must say this puzzle had me entertained all the way. The hard-boiled eggs which I had come to expect from Gordius thankfully did not materialise and all the clues were fair, solveable … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,058 (30/05/10)
Slightly late, slightly rushed post this week, but a quality puzzle as always. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Across 1 SPEARHEADING – (EAR + HE) in SPADING. 10 AGAR-AGAR – … Read more >>
Independent 7376 by Glowworm
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism An elegant puzzle with some very good clues, although very much on the easy side. 24 was my favourite clue, although I quite liked … Read more >>
Guardian 25,030 / Rufus
A characteristically straightforward yet stylish offering from Rufus, with the ingenious anagrams and seamless, story-telling surfaces that we know to expect, with not too many cryptic clues for those who dislike them. [Unfortunately, … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 418 – Awful, awful, awful
After last week’s triple “percent” wordplay, this week we have “awful” used as an anagrind in three different clues. So I’m afraid it walked into that blog title. Blam! But it was quite … Read more >>
Azed 1983
A relatively easy Azed this week – I managed to solve most of it without aids, with only the SW corner causing some difficulties. I can’t fully explain 18ac, and there seems to … Read more >>
Guardian Genius 83 / Araucaria
We found it tough to get going with this puzzle, but once we’d got the theme of 7-letter characters from Shakespeare, and, I’m afraid to say, resorted to using Wikipedia’s lists from A … Read more >>
Everyman 3322
Nothing much objectionable here, but certainly not an easy one with some slightly more obscure words/phrases and once or twice I ended up knowing that it must be this set of letters, but … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 916 / MynoT
I don’t know what has happened to the scheduled blogger so here is my belated analysis of this puzzle. The note on my copy indicates that I found it hard and the degree … Read more >>
Guardian 25,023 (Sat 29 May)/Paul – Teamwork
Solving time: 9 mins This was a puzzle not of four quarters but two halves: I solved very few answers (only six or so) in the first five minutes before spotting the theme … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,403 / Loroso
The second Loroso puzzle to appear in FT, and the first I’m blogging about – welcome to the setter who’s better known in these parts as Anax. Loroso treats us to novel tricks … Read more >>
Guardian 25,028 / Brendan
Extremely clever as always from Brendan. 12 especially made me smile. Across 9 NASTINESS N[ew] + ASTI=an Italian wine region + NESS=head 11 WHITE WHIT=a little bit + E[uropean] 12 GARDENERS (enraged)* + … Read more >>
Independent 7374/Phi
The usual nice cryptic from Phi, with some very good clues as always. One which utterly defeats me, but which people will I’m sure fall over themselves to explain. As for a Nina, the … Read more >>
Independent 7373 by Tyrus
Quite a hard puzzle as one expects from Tyrus, with a theme exemplified by 8 down (an answer I worked out only quite late on) and some other entries and wording used in … Read more >>
Independent 7369 (Sat 29 May) by Klingsor – an orgy of Wagner
This puzzle made a nice coincidental side dish for Stephen Fry’s excellent program (3 days to watch as I write this, if you missed it) on Wagner. Klingsor is an evil magician in … Read more >>