Independent 6532/Monk
A something-for-everyone puzzle from Monk. A few easy clues to get you going, some hard ones to stretch you, a bit of innovation here and there and some good old-fashioned smut. Not forgetting … Read more >>
Inquisitor 38/Nutmeg – OI
For once I tackled the Inquisitor on the day of publication, and, by lunchtime, it was finished. This wasn’t particularly diificult by Inquisitor standards, and would be a good puzzle for soomeone who … Read more >>
Guardian 24193/Araucaria
Solving time 20:19 Araucaria’s certainly on form today. A great 28-letter anagram at 1A,8D and a lot of other very clever clues made this a real pleasure to solve. I don’t think there … Read more >>
Independent 6536/Punk – All the way home
There’s always lots of fun to be had with a puzzle by Punk (or Paul) and this was no exception. Across 1 POCKET,LL,(AIR)* in BIDS – excellent clue and a toughie to unravel, … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 919 by Quixote
Quite a tricky puzzle with some novel features. More verifying needed than usual. Will concentrate on what I found the trickier or more unusual clues, but happy to explain any other if asked. … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,564 by Mudd
Following two Weekend FT puzzles that I fairly sailed through, Mudd gave me a bit of a challenge with this one. As usual, it was a satisfying challenge. I did however fail to … Read more >>
Guardian 24192/Paul – glittering
(Hope PaulB isn’t reading this since I’m late again). Another fine Paul opus – some surprising and refreshing wordplay (e.g. 7D, 1A) and sly definitions (e.g. 25A). I did this early morning but … Read more >>
FT 12573/Cinephile
Solving time :32 mins 59 secs. Thank goodness this wasn’t one of Cinephile’s really difficult ones. As always with Cinephile, one or two clues that stretch a pedantic Ximenean, but nevertheless lots of … Read more >>
Independent 6535/Dac
Some of the surface readings in this puzzle were truly superb, 1 down shone out. I was beaten by 8 down and Dac has been beaten by 25 down which has two possible … Read more >>
Guardian 24191/Gordius
I enjoyed this puzzle very much, with a good mix of clues, and a couple of answers that used words that were new to me. I thought that I had posted this at … Read more >>
Independent 6534 by Virgilius
Another wonderful themed puzzle from Virgilius. All the across answers from French and quite a few references in the down clues too. As it happens, this blogger is very familiar with French so … Read more >>
Independent 6533/Phi – But it’s not Friday…
Now I know how one of regular commenters felt when we had a puzzle themed around Elvis. According to his Wikipedia entry, Terry 13A was the best-selling UK author in the 1990s and … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 348 Thatcher’s busy week
It’s been a busy time for Maggie lately, dropping in on her old abode to see what colour Gordon’s painted the walls, meeting Rudolph Giuliani, and of course appearing in the Eye Crossword … Read more >>
Azed 1842 – tut tut (again!)
Solving time – about 45 mins, with Chambers and Bradfords After the two uncharacteristic faux pas the previous week, I was surprised to see yet another error creep into this one (see 6 … Read more >>
Guardian 24,183 (Sat 15 Sep)/Paul – Vewy quiet
Solving time: 13:42 It felt as though I made fairly heavy weather of this; the long answers took longer than they should have, especially 11dn, and answers like MARSH GAS for ‘methane’ should … Read more >>