Azed 1964
It can hardly be that I am suddenly becoming quicker at these, but I found this unusually easy. Apart from the strangeness of some of the words, it presented no more problems than … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 897 Iffy by Salamanca
The first few answers I got were an across answer that was normal and 4dn for which I though STOP was a satisfactory answer. So it took a few minutes to work out … Read more >>
Guardian 24,909 (Sat 16 Jan)/Araucaria – Last chance saloon
Solving time: 10 mins Not too difficult this week but there were several dubious clues in this (e.g. 11ac, 20ac, 1dn, 3dn, 16dn); not Araucaria’s finest, I thought. Music of the day (5dn): … Read more >>
Independent 7,260/Phi
It’s been a good week of puzzles in the Indy and a pretty tough one too. I got on fine with this one as Phi rarely puts a foot wrong with his clueing, … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,039 (17/01/10)
One of my fastest Beelzebub solves of recent times, as witnessed by me blogging this on the Sunday, for once. There is just one – at 29ac – for which I can find … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1108 – French Polish by Nutmeg
We were told that seven grid entries, clued without definition, were of a kind. Their response to an exhortation would affect the method of entry of a further seven clue answers. Further, all … Read more >>
Guardian 24914 / Araucaria
A mostly very enjoyable puzzle, with a nicely done theme. Across 1. CALIFORNIUM Two subsidiary indicators here: (a) A Latinist might say Californium is the singular of California (“state”) (b) CALIF = “leader … Read more >>
Independent 7255 by Nimrod (Sat 16-Jan)
With his trademark 15-letter answers you certainly get your money’s worth from Nimrod. This took me ages, of course, and couldn’t have finished without a bit of dictionary-bashing etc. I found the bottom … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,290 / Gozo
Straightforward stuff today, with a mini-theme of furniture. Many cryptic and double definitions but none that truly sparkled. 20d stood out for its cleverly positioned hyphen at line-break. Across 1 SCHOOL cd 4 … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,289 / Mudd
Good stuff, as usual, from Mudd; including some decent treatment of rather mundane words or devices. I also liked the grid design, which allowed for a nice balance of checking patterns. I don’t … Read more >>
Independent 7259 by Nestor
Very inventive and satisfying puzzle from Nestor, quite hard, solving time 45 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 A NDROMEDA GALAXY (Gary Oldman axed)* 10 LEANEST “Art showing tendency that’s … Read more >>
Guardian (24,913), Paul
Very enjoyable puzzle with a cleverly clued theme. Very Paul, very good. Across 8 CINERAMA: anagram of AMERICAN 9 ANODES: O (nothing) in ANDES (range) 11 LINSEED OIL: anagram of DEONISE in LL … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1040 by Quixote – 17 Jan 2010
Solving time, 22 mins. Lower half harder than top half, I found * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 LAPP (p pal)< 4 SUBJECT S 9 SCAR(C)E 10 PEA (CO C)KS 11 … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,280 – Dante
Monday Prize Crossword on 11 January 2010 Back to Dante for another not-so-taxing week-opener with some delightful cryptic definitions and double definitions. However, I suspect Dante may have got his mythologies mixed up … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,279 by Mudd
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 9 I needed a bit of dictionary and Google help to finish this puzzle. And I did not get 20D. I especially like 23A and … Read more >>