Financial Times 13,032 – Dante
Monday Prize Crossword on 23 March 2009 dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram … Read more >>
Independent 7007 by Nimrod
A very good puzzle for April Fool’s Day by Nimrod. Very tough, solving time, 66 mins. There’s a Nina which I refer to after the clue explanations. * = anagram ACROSS 6 PAUL … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,040 / Orense
A mix of easy and slightly less easy clues today with some good surfaces. I rather liked 25a which can be a dd or a cd depending on whether one separates the ‘light’ … Read more >>
What future for the Guardian crossword
This news may interest current solvers. Guardian development They don’t mention the crossword specifically but I imagine clues will have to be published as separate tweets. Hopefully they’ll tweet a url to a … Read more >>
Guardian 24,662 (Puck)
Ran out of time, so incomplete. Took me ages to get the April Fool material. Mind you, I had been expecting this! Across 9,27 SPAGHETTI TREE: anagram of PIES THE TARGET; April Fools’ … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,039 / Armonie
Apologies for the late-ish blog. I was hoping to do this last night before going to bed but the puzzle was not posted on the website at the usual time. Across 1 FAREWELL … Read more >>
Independent 7,006/Dac
Was it just me being tired from having stayed up late watching The Wire last night, or was some of this quite hard for a Dac puzzle? The middle of the grid didn’t … Read more >>
Guardian 24,661 – Paul
dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram The conventional approach to solving a clue … Read more >>
Independent 7005 by Radian
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def My initial thought on seeing this puzzle was that the theme would be something like the Taming of the Shrew, so I set off with a mental … Read more >>
Guardian 24,660/Araucaria
A rare Monday outing for Araucaria, and a puzzle that was mostly fairly easy, though with a couple of shaky definitions and some dubious wordplay. The grid is a bit strange, being almost … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 387 – Spluttering bile in springtime
I enjoyed this and didn’t find it as hard as last time. How hard anyone finds a puzzle must vary not just from puzzle to puzzle and person to person but also depends … Read more >>
Azed 1921 – Eightsome Reels
The scheduled blogger is unavailable, so I’m acting as sub with this rather brief effort. The “Eightsome Reels” idea was invented by Azed and pops up from time to time. Peter has again … Read more >>
Guardian 24,653 (Sat 21 Mar)/Gordius – The splice of life
Solving time: 11:08 A rare Saturday outing for Gordius, which I think was of about the same level of difficulty as his occasional weekday puzzles. Some clever stuff here with a good sprinkling … Read more >>
Independent 7003 by Phi
Quite an easy puzzle from Phi, I thought, getting quite a bit from definitions, verifying wordplay later. Solving time, 15 mins. * = anagram < = reversed 1 TIME S H(E)ET 6 STUB … Read more >>
Independent 6998/Math (Prize puzzle 21-03-09)
A fitting theme for a puzzle that appeared the day before 4. A couple of clues make reference to “ladies of tomorrow”, or “ladies celebrated on Sunday”, and there are a number of … Read more >>