Guardian 24866 / Pasquale
I found this rather hard work, but with lots of excellent clues – 25 across in particular. Across 1. NICODEMUS (DEMONIC)* + US = “American”; In chapter 3 of John’s gospel, Jesus tells … Read more >>
Independent 7,210 by Tyrus
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. My patchy records suggest that I’ve never blogged a Tyrus before, so this was an interesting experience for me. The theme is clubs of one … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,242 / Jason
Unfortunately the grid that appeared with this puzzle was incorrect. There are two blacked-out squares that should not have been blacked out: the square between what is given in the grid as 13 … Read more >>
Guardian 24865 – Gordius
dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram I have previously touched on the tendency … Read more >>
Guardian 24,864 – Rufus
A decent Monday puzzle with a couple of weakish cryptic definitions. I guess it’s hard to come up with ‘easy’ CDs! Across 1. TWENTY. 2 + 0. 4. BASEBALL. BASE + BALL. 9. … Read more >>
Independent 7203 by Glow-worm
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism This was quite tough but ultimately enjoyable. Across 1 Intellectual: Tell in (clue at n I)*. 9 Gyp: Hidden in “dodgy patella”. 10 Crenellate: … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 404 – Error: Not found
That is, surface reading not found. After doing a lot of crosswords I tend to read clues for their cryptic meaning without noticing, or should I say savouring, the surface reading. An example … Read more >>
Azed 1955
An Azed of mixed difficulty, I found. I sailed through about three quarters of it with trouble at all, including most of the five long answers, but made much heavier weather of the … Read more >>
Everyman 3294
Hopefully nothing too hard here. For some reason I wanted 15ac to be ALTAR for a while (A large being AL and in front of church being the definition) but after drawing various … Read more >>
Independent 7202 by Bannsider
Solving time: about 23 minutes I found this a challenging puzzle despite getting the long answer on first look. I hope most other solvers got it without too much trouble – if not, … Read more >>
Guardian 24,857 (Sat 14 Nov)/Taupi – Cracker, Moley
Solving time: 9 mins Taupi (Albie Fiore) sadly died earlier this year; this was his final Guardian puzzle. There are many glowing tributes elsewhere on this site and on the web, including a … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 888: Title by Hypnos
In this puzzle you were required to deduce the title of a work by a figure (why that word was used I know not; it sounded a bit cryptic, but turned out not … Read more >>
Guardian 24,862 – Brummie
Across 1 SOPHISM OP=work in S[c]HISM 5 INSISTS sounds like “in cysts” 9 POLYP Y[en] in rev(PLOP) 10 UP THE WALL cryptic def 11 NURSE SHARK NURSE=tend to + SH=quiet + ARK=craft 12, … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,029 (08/11/09)
Now here's a turn up for the books: a Beelzebub that I couldn't actually finish. The Chambers search suggests that the only possible entry for 11dn is BANANALAND, leaving 32ac as RD?EES, which … Read more >>
Independent 7,207 by Phi
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. The usual high-quality Friday puzzle, as we tend to expect these days. I got through this pretty quickly, though with a slight diversion in the … Read more >>