Fifteensquared – Page 1565 – Never knowingly undersolved

Financial Times 13,027 / Jason

Tue March 17, 2009 at 4:13 pmTue March 17, 2009 at 4:07 am by Agentzero

Two slightly tricky clues exploiting the is=’s=s ambiguity. I am unsure of the parsing of two others–any assistance is welcome! Thanks to Phi and Paul B for their help, noted below Across 1 LANDLORD … Read more >>

Guardian 24648 / Rufus

Mon March 16, 2009 at 6:01 pmMon March 16, 2009 at 4:39 pm by mhl

Apologies for the late posting – I forgot that I was supposed to be blogging today… Across 1. IN HOCK Double definition 5. EXTENDED Double definition 9. LIVE IT UP I’VE in LIT … Read more >>

Independent 6993 by Mass

Mon March 16, 2009 at 12:49 pm by NealH

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def An enjoyable puzzle with nothing too difficult or controversial. I couldn’t see any obvious NINA. Across 9 Orchestra: I think this is just a CD relating to … Read more >>

Private Eye/Cyclops 386 – “For Hesse a jolly good fellow”

Mon March 16, 2009 at 12:15 am by beermagnet

This was again harder than most Eye crosswords with a few very tough clues. I had trouble in the bottom half – and particular trouble with number 2. Across 1 LAMB CHOP LAMB … Read more >>

Azed 1919 – Azed for beginners

Mon March 16, 2009 at 5:57 pmSun March 15, 2009 at 12:23 am by petebiddlecombe

Solving time: 27:40, with Chambers used for the last three – 25/26/27. As promised, I’m going into more detail than usual to help solvers who are unfamiliar with Azed puzzles to use this … Read more >>

Guardian 24,641 (Sat 7 Mar)/Paul – Star signs

Mon March 16, 2009 at 3:10 pmSat March 14, 2009 at 6:00 am by rightback

Solving time: 7:17 When I first printed this off I thought I must be missing a preamble, but in fact the asterisks in some clues (those starred below) acted as definitions of ‘stars’ … Read more >>

FT 13,024/Adamant

Fri March 13, 2009 at 8:20 pmFri March 13, 2009 at 2:03 pm by smiffy

Please excuse the drive-by blog, which I’ll aim to flesh out in a couple of hours. (I can sympathise with the clue at 8D today.) Not much to explain, although I suspect that … Read more >>

Independent 6991/Phi

Fri March 13, 2009 at 12:24 pm by John

I found this unusually difficult — the two-word clues were a problem and one or two short answers are even now not totally clear. But apart from one or two quibbles, a typically … Read more >>

Beelzebub 994 (08/03/09)

Fri March 13, 2009 at 10:30 am by Simon Harding

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. I actually managed to finish this on the Sunday, which is something of a rarity for me. Still, it was a very pleasant way to … Read more >>

Guardian 24646 / Auster

Fri March 13, 2009 at 8:48 am by mhl

Quite a few nice clues in this fairly easy puzzle from Auster. (I’m a bit disappointed there’s are no Australian words or phrases this time, though. :)) Across 1. MILDEWED MILD + EWE … Read more >>

Independent 6986/Scorpion (Prize puzzle 07-03-09)

Fri March 13, 2009 at 8:13 am by neildubya

Scorpion has a reputation as one of the tougher Indie setters but I found this pretty easy. Good fun to solve too, which is the most important thing after all. Just two queries … Read more >>

Inquisitor 114 – Monkey Runs by Dysart

Fri March 13, 2009 at 7:35 am by duncanshiell

We were told that the initial letters of extra words in twenty-two (of forty-seven) clues would spell out the source of a quotation explaining what happens to seven answers. These initial letters would … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations 852 — Growth by Rustic

Wed April 29, 2009 at 4:29 pmFri March 13, 2009 at 7:00 am by Colin Blackburn

I might be being unduly unfair but I was dissatisfied with this puzzle overall. On the plus side the idea was neat and simple and many of the clues were good and relatively … Read more >>

Azed 1919 – Have a go …

Thu March 12, 2009 at 9:30 pm by petebiddlecombe

Those who think Azed is beyond them might like to try this puzzle. I solved it in pretty short order, and I’m due to blog it on Sunday. I’m going to mention points … Read more >>

Independent 6,990 by Morph

Thu February 4, 2010 at 7:58 amThu March 12, 2009 at 12:00 pm by Simon Harding

A mixed week for me here. A handful of very good clues, some others (especially the dds) which I could take or leave, and a few I can’t fully explain. There’s a “cattle” … Read more >>