Financial Times 13,075 / Gozo
I am trying to compose myself so that I can write a short composition about sixteen composers (or twenty two if you include the various possibilities for 11 and 12). Despite having a … Read more >>
Guardian 24698 / Rover
We found this rather tough, but with lots of good “A-ha!” moments (e.g. 12a, 14a, 27a, 6d, 21d). There are 10 clues that refer to the theme of drinks and drinking, including the … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,074 / Armonie
What a pleasant, if not difficult, solve. No complaints here! Across 1 STIMULATION T (time) in SIMULATION (replicated environment) 7 CUP C (about) UP (finished) 9 SCOFF SC (special constable) OFF (turned, in the … Read more >>
Independent 7042 by Nimrod
There’s a Nina here which I refer to after the clue explanations. Solving time, 36 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 VIR(A)GO The clue wording at first suggested the other … Read more >>
Guardian 24,697 / Brummie
A welcome return from Brummie, who always entertains. After solving the puzzle, I spent a while staring at the answers, since Brummie often gives us a theme. I thought there might be one … Read more >>
Independent 7041 by Glow-Worm
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def Some nice clues, but also one or two I thought were a bit hard to decipher (especially 16 across). Across 1 Pass round the hat: … Read more >>
Guardian 24,696 – Rufus
A fairly straightforward puzzle, but with a few clues I wasn’t happy with – some very tortured defs in 12ac, 15ac, 18dn, for instance. I did like some of the shorter simple clues, … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 390 – Smug opposition
Nothing too onerous here – I fair whipped through this one on half a journey home – but a few clues had some fairly convoluted wordplay. Across 1 SHRUB (BUSH)* AInd: pissed, around … Read more >>
Azed 1927 – Spoonerisms
I knew this special was coming because, unusually, Azed told us about it in the monthly Slip from the previous competition. It’s a format that he invented, and it crops up from time … Read more >>
Everyman 3266
Definitely harder than the last one I blogged (2 weeks ago) and probably a little harder than last week. The surfaces here are impeccable pretty much throughout, and overall I felt this had … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,002 (03/05/09)
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. I seemed to race through this one, although writing in USABLE at 16ac eventually caught up with me. Many thanks to Gaufrid for helping me … Read more >>
Guardian 24,689 (Sat 2 May)/Enigmatist – By gum
Solving time: 33:34 Probably two-thirds of that time was spent trying to untangle the long phrase starting at 1dn, together with a few other crossing answers (especially 22ac and 23dn). If you knew … Read more >>
Guardian Genius No 70 by Brummie (April 2009)
Apologies for being late with this. A really enjoyable challenge from Brummie formed the April Genius puzzle and one which required wits to be kept about one at all times. Although there was … Read more >>
Independent 7039/Math
Not quite sure what’s happening here. Phi, who is usually on Friday, was on Monday this week, which suggests that something significant was in the pipeline for Friday. But it doesn’t seem to … Read more >>
Independent 7,034 by Nestor (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 02/05/09)
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. I think this is the first time I’ve blogged a Nestor. It was jolly good either way, with inventive but solid clueing and some impressive … Read more >>