Financial Times 13,056 / Armonie
Another smooth, cleanly-clued puzzle from Armonie. I am a big fan of concise clues, and the brevity of these clues is impressive; I make it an average of exactly five words. Across 1 REPRESENT … Read more >>
Independent 7023 by Monk
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def I found this very hard-going. Spotting the symmetric anagrams around the perimeter of the gird earlier would have helped a lot. Across 1 Secret Agent: anag of … Read more >>
Guardian 24,678 (Rufus)
A very large number of double definitions and &Lits. It’s Monday; it’s Rufus. Across 1 SHOW UP: double definition 5 LONDONER: DON (fellow) in LONER, with fellow being used also in the definition … Read more >>
Azed 1924: A morass of Morays
A pretty easy Azed for Easter. I didn’t time myself, but I reckon I got through this as quickly as I have ever completed an Azed. No clue particularly stands out, but I … Read more >>
Everyman Crossword No. 3263 (Apr 12)
Across 1 STAND – double def – set up/a partnership (as in cricket) 4 NET PROFIT – anag of IF TOP RENT 9 ROLL-NECK SWEATER – anag of TAKE CORNERS WELL – surface … Read more >>
Everyman Blogs
As from this week, the Everyman will be blogged again. A blog will be published each Sunday covering the previous weekend’s puzzle. The first post will appear tomorrow (19/4/2009).
Beelzebub 999 (12/04/09)
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. This was a very enjoyable puzzle indeed. The bank holiday weekend and an auspicious puzzle number seem to have contributed to something of a change … Read more >>
Guardian 24,671 (Sat 11 Apr)/Araucaria – Pork Fest
Solving time: 32:30 (1dn and 9dn wrong) This Bank Holiday special from Araucaria had a special feature in the across clues: the wordplay indicated the answer using a subsidiary word which ended in … Read more >>
Independent 7021/Phi
Pleasant fare from Phi, with one clue that defeats me but which will I’m sure be quickly explained. I wonder if the clueing style used in 10ac and 13ac is consciously Azedian. Across 1 … Read more >>
Financial Times 13053 / Phssthpok
I got off to a breezing start with this puzzle, filled in 90% of the grid without pause but then unravelling the wordplay for a few of them took some thinking. Not sure … Read more >>
Guardian 24,676 / Gordius
I’ve nothing much to say about this puzzle. I quite liked 9ac but there are several clues I’m not happy with, particularly some ‘cryptic’ definitions. [ ]* anagram [ ] < reversal cd … Read more >>
Independent 7016/Mass (Prize puzzle 11-04-09)
A chess inspired puzzle from Mass, where every clue makes reference to the game and/or some its famous players. Like all puzzles from this setter I found this pretty tough but got there … Read more >>
Inquisitor 119 – Offcut by Hypnos
This started as a placeholder post. This was a pretty straightforward puzzle – I managed to see through the trick of making the source of the quote much longer than the quote itself, … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 857 – Exactly by Lato
The preamble indicated that ten clues had an extra word each of which defined ten otherwise unclued entries. A further unclued entry (of three words) was said to explain ‘exactly’ where these entries … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,052/Aardvark
I found a few of the clues in this either flirted with verbosity and/or led to quite clunky wordplay. By way of redemption, we do have a couple of laudable clues (e.g. 12 … Read more >>