Independent 6636 by Dac
This had everything you could ask from a daily cryptic from this top setter. Excellent misdirection, great variety, and all with everyday words. Flawless construction. Solving time, 25 mins. * = anagram ACROSS … Read more >>
Independent 6635/Virgilius
A tour de force from Virgilius. Somehow he has managed to get some reference to a topic that continues to increase in importance into every clue, either in the answer or in the … Read more >>
Guardian 24291/Gordius
Quite a lot of general knowledge required to complete this one, although the trickier answers all had friendly wordplay so it can’t be accused of unfairness. Across 1 NICODEMUS (I,consumed)* – Nicodemus was … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 356 – Beetle or Beatle
Sorry this is late. I should have posted this yesterday but simply forgot. This seemed so small after the Xmas monster. I’m not sure I’ve chosen correctly on 29A. Across 1 COMICS (SO … Read more >>
Azed 1859 (Plain)/ Tricky Stuff
Solving Time: around 75 minutes. A tough challenge from Azed this week with some straight-forward stuff, but one or two really tricky clues that took me a while to work out. Music: Maria Callas giving her … Read more >>
Independent 6634 (Glow-Worm)
A solid puzzle by Glow-Worm, but I didn’t really understand the logic behind either of the 12 clues. Across 1 Curriculum Vitae: Cryptic def (possibly more of a reference to its latin meaning … Read more >>
Guardian 24290/Rufus
Classic Rufus, lots of cryptic defnitions! There were a couple of tough ones in here for me, exposing my lack of knowledge of literature and opera. Across 9 ACTON BELL — ACT ON … Read more >>
Everyman 3198
Across 4 EGGPLANT — E.G. + G + PLAN + (allotmen)T 10 EXCHEQUER — “ex checker” 11 ORIBI — (I BIRO)< — the oribi is one of a number of regular crossword antelopes. … Read more >>
Guardian 24,283 (Sat 12 Jan)/Paul – Up to no good
Solving time: 11:57 Some tricky clues in this, and a bit of a theme based around references to 8ac (GOOD), the main twist of this being at 12ac and 24/13ac in which clues … Read more >>
Independent 6632 by Phi
A quick post – harder than usual from Phi with a theme – referred to after the clue explanations. Solving time, 29 mins. < = reversed ACROSS 10 SHOO(t) Definition = off! … Read more >>
Independent 6627/Punk (12-01-08)
Across 1 (MARIA FOLLOWING)*,E – WILLIAM OF ORANGE. “After the Reformation” is the anagram indicator so the capitalized R is more than a bit cheeky. 9 DUMB,FOUND – great definition (“stump”) but does … Read more >>
Guardian 24288/Brendan
The grid pattern and setter meant a theme was there somewhere. It took a while for it to work out but in the end it’s spelled out across the middle of the grid. … Read more >>
Inquisitor 54 – Seasonal Show by Loda
The clues for this Seasonal Show were presented in three blocks: Firstly, an unnumbered set of clues to the whole of each of Rows 1, 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12 with the … Read more >>
Guardian 24287/Orlando
Sorry this is so late – I wrote it up at lunchtime but the site’s been down for most of the afternoon with an “Unable to connect to database” error. I seem to … Read more >>
Independent 6631 by Monk
Looking at the grid before I started saw checking was low in some cases eg 2 in 5-letter words, 3 in 7-letters words so I suspected a theme. Having solved it however, I … Read more >>