Fifteensquared – Page 1491 – Never knowingly undersolved

Guardian 24846 / Rufus

Mon November 2, 2009 at 12:39 pm by mhl

A fun and quite quick puzzle to start the week. 12d and 25a were the troublesome ones for me. Across 1. COMPASS CO = “firm” + M = “a thousand” + PASS = … Read more >>

Independent 7191 by Mordred

Tue November 3, 2009 at 12:52 pmMon November 2, 2009 at 12:31 pm by NealH

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism Apologies for the late post, but I’ve been really under the cosh at work today and haven’t been able to find the time. … Read more >>

Azed 1952: Pervy gumshoes

Sun November 1, 2009 at 1:43 pmSun November 1, 2009 at 8:50 am by jetdoc

An Azed with a mix of easyish and fairly difficult clues, and a few pretty obscure words, which made it interesting to solve. I think I will go for 17a as my favorite … Read more >>

Everyman No. 3291 (25th October)

Sun November 1, 2009 at 6:30 am by The Trafites

. . Lorraine: Another straight forward puzzle this week, luckily for me as I was not really in the mood for puzzling today. Legend to solution comments: * = anagram. < = word … Read more >>

Genius 76 by Araucaria

Sun November 1, 2009 at 12:01 am by bridgesong

I found this extremely tough, unlike some of the earlier offerings in the Genius series. I still have a problem explaining a few of the clues. The main difficulty was simply the obscurity … Read more >>

Beelzebub 1,027 (25/10/09)

Sun December 13, 2009 at 3:32 amSat October 31, 2009 at 8:02 pm by Simon Harding

Apologies for the later than usual blog. I only found out yesterday that I was expected to work today. So anyway, here's Beelzebub 1,027, which I found to be a fair bit more … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No. 885 — Book, Film & TV by Salamanca

Sat October 31, 2009 at 8:10 am by Colin Blackburn

I printed this puzzle off on the day of its publication but set it aside due to work pressures. I intended to take it on holiday with me to Netherlands and Belgium. An … Read more >>

Guardian 24,839 (Sat 24 Oct)/Boatman – Close thing

Sat October 31, 2009 at 5:00 am by rightback

Solving time: 20 mins plus another couple of days mulling over 13dn and 25ac. I’m afraid I thought this was a poor puzzle. There is a strange theme with the phrase ‘dead-end’ (or, … Read more >>

Independent 7,189 by Phi

Fri October 30, 2009 at 10:30 am by Simon Harding

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. A solve of two halves for me – I raced through most of this in minutes, then ground to a halt on the remaining few. … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,221 / Orense

Fri October 30, 2009 at 4:14 pmFri October 30, 2009 at 10:09 am by shuchi

A mixed bag. Some easy clues, some not. Some fine clues, a few I have quibbles with or questions about. The NE corner was slow to fall, although after finishing the puzzle I … Read more >>

Guardian 24,844 / Araucaria

Fri October 30, 2009 at 9:23 am by Andrew

I guessed the planetary theme almost immediately, knowing that “planet” means “wanderer”, from the fact that the planets move in the sky relative to the so-called “fixed stars”. It’s not a complete set: … Read more >>

Indy 7184 by Tyrus (Sat 24 Oct)

Fri October 30, 2009 at 5:00 am by beermagnet

We haven’t seen Tyrus for a while. When we have it has been tough, as this one proved to be. I was pleased to get a good handful on the first pass over … Read more >>

Inquisitor 147 – Bear Puzzle – by Raich

Fri October 30, 2009 at 6:03 pmFri October 30, 2009 at 1:23 am by kenmac

What a bad start, I thought. I looked at 1 across and got the answer straight away. Usually when that happens, I’m doomed to failure. But, as it happens, it wasn’t an omen, I … Read more >>

Guardian 24,843 – Chifonie

Thu October 29, 2009 at 2:19 pm by manehi

Across 1 PENANCE PENCE around AN 5 LAMPREY LAM+PREY 10 SPRY SPY i.e. “mole” around R[esistance] 11 APOTHEOSIS (Sophie ‘as to)* 12 PRESTO PO around REST – a spider is one of the … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,220/ Mudd

Wed November 4, 2009 at 9:47 amThu October 29, 2009 at 1:10 pm by smiffy

This one was something of a ripper (see 19D) in terms of trickiness for me. Probably one of my slowest solves this year. I found the NE-corner particularly tough to gain a toe-hold … Read more >>