Guardian 24326/Rufus
I always find it difficult to blog Rufus puzzles without sounding churlish. Rufus produces some cracking clues and his puzzles are usually at the easier end of the scale. However, I’m not a … Read more >>
Independent 6670 by Punk
* = anag, < = reversed, () = removed A good mix of clues from Punk, many of them quite deceptive. Across 1 Leeds: homophone of “leads” 4 Trampling: T + Rampling (Charlotte … Read more >>
Azed 1865
My broadband connection was down all weekend, hence the lateness of this report. I managed to do most of this without the dictionary, although I cracked near the end and had to look … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 359 – Checking letters required
For me, this was harder than usual – I ended up tackling it over three sessions. Yet again I’m not sure everything below is correct or fully explained. As a result I didn’t … Read more >>
Guardian 24,319 (Sat 16 Feb)/Araucaria – River dance
Solving time: 16:08, one mistake The fourteen solutions “of a kind” were rivers hidden in clues, with no other indications. GANGES for the first one I spotted, but I wasn’t quite sure of … Read more >>
Guardian 24324/ Araucaria Friday Fun
I thought this was a terrific crossword, witty, entertaining and erudite. The bad news was that though I solved it I feel that sometimes I had answers without full understanding. So, more than … Read more >>
Independent 6668/Phi
Across 1 (WAS)* in DON – Les DAWSON, my favourite comedian when I was young. 10 WING,C,HAIR 11 TO[-l]KE[-i]N – Tolkein was the first name that sprung to mind when I saw “fantasy … Read more >>
Independent 6663/Scorpion
I have a number of crossword wishes waiting to be carried out by the crossword genie and one of them is for Scorpion puzzles to appear more often. Yes, they are very tough … Read more >>
Inquisitor 60 – Proceedings by Zero
The title – Proceedings – alludes to ‘Carry on’, so this crossword was an entertaining romp down the history of ‘Carry On …….’ films, of which there were twenty-nine original and one compilation … Read more >>
FT 12,703 by Viking
An excellent puzzle, with great manipulation of letters in anagrams in many cases to give &lit clues where the whole clue, as well as providing the wordplay, also gives the definition of the … Read more >>
Independent 6667 / Nimrod
Solving time: 25 minutes. Quite devious from young Nimrod today with a couple of ambiguous solutions until you get the intersecting answers. Very enjoyable with a couple of forehead slapping moments. ACROSS (*) = … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 941 by Quixote (24 Feb 2008)
The usual pleasing puzzle from Quixote. Quite easy, I found, solving time, 14 mins. Would recommend these puzzles to beginners, clues self-contained with little cultural knowledge required (either classical or modern) to solve. … Read more >>
Guardian 24,323 Shed : Apologies to Dafydd Gonzales …
… the Hispanic Welshman who would have been insulted by both 9a and 4d. The only bad thing about Shed crosswords are that they don’t come along often enough for my liking. Clever, … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,693 by Mudd
An easier-than-usual Mudd this week. Across 1. SHELLAC – HELL (very hot) in SAC (bag) 5. MINARET – ERA (time) reversed in MINT (perfect) 9. GRUFF – [ribbin]G + RUFF (frill) 10. REPUGNANT … Read more >>
Independent 6666 by Math
A very, satisfying, toughish, puzzle with the puzzle number used thematically. Solving time, 29 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 4 KEBA BS (bake)* bs = US abbrev for ‘bullshit’ 9 … Read more >>