Independent 6880 by Nimrod
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone Apologies for the late posting. I was too busy at work today to give this the two or three hours of attention I would have needed to get through … Read more >>
Guardian Genius 64/Locum – The A-Team
After two very tough offerings from Paul and Brummie, this required very little genius in either solving the clues or fitting the answers into the grid. An enjoyable enough puzzle, and a clever … Read more >>
Guardian 24536 / Rufus
A very good start to the week, with lots of clues that made me smile. I think my particular favourites here were two of the three musical ones: 16 across and 25 down. … Read more >>
Azed 1900/did I miss something?
Still restricting myself to a Listener-only diet, Azed comes as a welcome relief in the advanced cryptic scheme of things. I found this puzzle to have the normal level of well-constructed clues requiring … Read more >>
Guardian 24,529 (Sat 25 Oct)/Brummie – Stoup and roup
Solving time: 9:51 A rare Saturday outing for Brummie. Nothing too difficult, although NO STRINGS, DROSOPHILA and LUTYENS probably accounted for a third of my time. I enjoyed the puzzle but thought a … Read more >>
FT 12,913/Alberich
With apologies for the tardy posting. Especially as I thought this was a really well-balanced and cohesive puzzle that merits plaudits or discussion. The surface readings in particular were what caught my eye. … Read more >>
Independent 6873/Nestor (Prize puzzle 25-10-08)
Apologies for the comparative lack of commentary – I’m a bit pushed for time today. Great puzzle, as always from Nestor. Across 1 CH(I,N)ASE,A 6 alternate letters of sPaRsElY 11 A(DO)PTER 12 NAME,NIL … Read more >>
Independent 6878/Phi
A typically nice crossword, but trickier than usual for Phi. Some long words were slow to come. Across 7 DOZE(n) 8 BOTTLENECK — I don’t really understand this — why wouldn’t you expect to find jam in … Read more >>
Guardian 24534 / Enigmatist
A remarkable grid with four 15 letter clues going down and lots of inventive and entertaining cluing… Across 8. RIBOSOME RIE (essentially bRIEf) covering BOSOM (“doing what bra does”). Ribosomes are organelles found … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 834 — Hero by Lato
My initial reading of the preamble left me confused. Were the two word unclued entries spread over two lights each or just one? The other two entries clued by extra words, were they … Read more >>
Inquisitor 95 ASDN WEEHWF HEDT by Schadenfreude
Blimey, what a corker! Several new words (including two of the dreaded Spenserian ones), a theme that was in code, answers to be both altered AND encoded. I almost gave up before starting! … Read more >>
Guardian 24533 by Taupi
We seem to be without a Guardian blog today so here is a breakdown of the wordplay. I’ll leave it to regular Guardian solvers to provide comments on the clues. . . Across … Read more >>
Independent 6877/Nimrod
Explanations and clarifications needed for 1a, 8, 12, 13, 19 and 26. Across 1 GOLF WIDOWS – can’t make head or tail of this, beyond some sort of pun on “putting”: “In small … Read more >>
FT No. 12,912, Set by Sleuth, October 30, 2008.
Plenty to think about today. The answers came fairly quickly but not always the explanations. 30a misled me for a few minutes – I trust I now have it right. Likewise 31a. No … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 976 by Quixote
I found this quite easy, solving time, 14 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 M (ODIC) UM odic = of poetry 5 A MAL(e) G AM 9 TOTE M 10 … Read more >>