Guardian 24,406 Quantum
I was sorry to hear of the death of Eric Burge, who I’ve “only” known through his Quantum crosswords in The Guardian. To a non-crossworder, it would seem that I should therefore hardly … Read more >>
Independent 6,749 – Punk
Inventive stuff as per usual from Punk. A nice mix of clues – some easy, some harder, some cheeky and some just downright inspired. I struggled with the NW corner and there are … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,777 – Dante
From FT Monday 26 May 2008 Common abbreviations used dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade * = anagram By the … Read more >>
Financial Times 12784 / Neo
Across 9 ISHERWOOD – isher (anag. of ‘hires’) + wood 10 AMONG – hidden in ‘jAM ON, Going’ :: The clue suggests a crush in a pressing crowd 11 RUNAWAY – two def. … Read more >>
Guardian 24405/Orlando – gobsmacked!
I like Orlando’s clean and precise cluing style — in this case, several instances of cheeky definitions probably deserving of a questionable indicator and more than one of working the answer out from … Read more >>
Independent Crossword 6748 by Nimrod
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed I was too stingy to buy the paper this morning, but I had a quick glance at the newsagents to find out who the compiler was. I believe it was … Read more >>
Guardian 24,404 / Rufus
Apologies, but I have to rush off now, so just a quick post today. Nothing too difficult from Rufus, but still a few neat clues in here. Across 1 COURTING DISASTER 10 EX,ONE,RATE … Read more >>
Azed 1878: the Irish question
Solving time: longer than I care to admit, but see 16 across. I completed about three quarters of the puzzle in an hour, but the northeast quadrant proved to be stubborn. This is … Read more >>
Guardian 24,397/Shed (Sat 24 May) – In the pink
Solving time: 28:00, over half of which on 1dn, 10ac and 15ac. I had a good start on this, stalled a little in the middle until I untangled BODICE RIPPER at 22/21dn, and … Read more >>
Independent 6741/Nimrod
Ran into a brick wall about halfway through this one and then spotted the Nina (referenced in 9), which got things moving again. Still don’t understand a few things here and there though. … Read more >>
Independent 6,746/Phi
I struggled to get going with this, only solving one of the Across clues on my first pass. A few nice, long cryptic definitions eventually got the ball rolling and everything else then … Read more >>
Financial Times no. 12,781 set by SATORI
Not too troublesome today – one or two pleasing clues with a few rather obvious ones. ACROSS 1. TAFFRAIL – <fat-frail (upper part of the stern of a ship) 5. STASIS – dd. … Read more >>
Guardian 24,402 (Gordius)
Across 1 DECIDED: CID in DEED 5 DELIBES: DLIBErateS without rate. Refers to Leo Delibes the French romantic composer 10 NEWCASTLE: anagram of LEWES CANT 11 OFF WITH HIS HEAD: from Lewis Carroll’s … Read more >>
Inquisitor #73 METAMORPHOSIS by Dysart
A nice twist in a crossword with conventional clues (no misprints, extra words etc. to muddy the waters). The puzzle was made more difficult by the fact that I found the clues in … Read more >>
Guardian 24,401 – Brendan
My chronic lack of geographical knowledge slowed me down quite a bit in this puzzle with lots of varied and often rather clever uses of “capital”, both in definitions and wordplay. On reflection, … Read more >>