Independent 6766 by Punk
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed An excellent mix of clues from Punk as usual, with some relatively easy and some quite difficult. I had a couple of goes at completing it – got most of … Read more >>
Guardian 24422 Rufus
A typically pleasant Monday puzzle from Rufus with at least two classy clues (15d and 24a). I still don’t understand why we must always get an easy puzzle on Monday. There’s always the simpler crossword in … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops Crossword 367 – Heroes and Villains
Another crossword where the last answer (correctly) written in is the first clue you look at, i.e. 1A or equivalent. This seems to have been happening to me a lot recently. Is it … Read more >>
Inquisitor 76 — Up, Up and Away by Phi
The clue is in the title, “Up, up and away” …in my beautiful balloon. A song probably known to many of my contemporaries as the music from the Nimble advert. Nimble was a … Read more >>
Guardian 24,415/Brendan: element-ary?
I hadn’t planned to blog this puzzle, but if nobody else wants to, here’s my contribution. The theme involves eight elements from the perodic table, and in each case the clue starts with … Read more >>
Guardian 24.420/Auster: Down under
Auster is Australian by origin, which may explain some Antipodean references in her puzzle today. Unusually, there is only one full anagram, and only a few partial ones. I’ve left out one or … Read more >>
Independent 6764/Phi
Across 1 (MATERIAL SNAG)* – MARGINAL SEAT. 9 ORPHANAGE – I think this is a reference to Wilde’s line from The Importance of Being Earnest: “to lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be … Read more >>
Independent 6759/Phi (14-06-08)
I’ve always had something of a fascination with the 7 for 28 (maybe because I did my degree in English Lit) so this was fairly easy for me as I’d heard of all … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,799 – Flimsy
Common abbreviations used dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade * = anagram An extremely easy puzzle which shouldn’t take much … Read more >>
Independent 6,763/Mordred
I found this tough going for a mid-week puzzle. I’ve never come across a few of the answers before and some clues are still a bit baffling. Across 8 ZULU – As in … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 957 by Quixote (15 June 2008)
Fairly straightforward, solving time 17 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 T (RUM PETER) S st< 9 PRO (S) PER 10 CO (M PAN) y nap< 11 KAPPA hidden 12 … Read more >>
Guardian 24419/Araucaria – Oh, Jerusalem!
This was a mix of accessible and impossible without wikipedia: unless you’re a Blake scholar, I had to reread “Jerusalem” to make head or tail. I’m also stymied by 13A which is unrelated … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,798 – Sleuth
Common abbreviations used dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade * = anagram Quite a challenging puzzle with many varied devices. … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,788 by Mudd
An easy Mudd this time around. 19D was the only clue that stumped me for a while. Across 1. HOPPER – [c]HOPPER 4. SCHOONER – CH (companion) in SOONER (rather) 9. READER – … Read more >>
FT 12,797 Monk
Always gratifying to lock horns with Monk on his all too infrequent FT appearances. Fortuitously, I seemed to be on a similar wavelength to him today, which isn’t always the case. Also, solving 19A … Read more >>