Independent 6379 / Dac – tricky doubleton
Solving time 8:40 About 50% slower than usual for Dac, with most trouble in the NE corner where I couldn’t get ‘Bye Bye’ out of my head for 6A, or quite understand 8D. … Read more >>
Guardian 24035/Logodaedalus
Solving time: roughly 15 mins in total, although work intervened a few times. It’s the first time I’ve solved a Logodaedalus puzzle, so I didn’t know what to expect. This one seemed quite … Read more >>
Independent 6378 by Virgilius – Deadly
After 7 days of the Lenten season last week, this time Virgilius gives us the 7 deadly sins, familiar (in theory, of course) to most, I’m sure. This made it an easy puzzle, … Read more >>
Not about crosswords…
You may notice that the service we provide is a bit irregular over the next couple of weeks. This is because Mrs Dubya yesterday gave birth to our first child, a week early. … Read more >>
Independent 6377 by Tees – Four Seasons
I was sure it wasn’t me today. I was absolutely sure. I just checked to see if whoever it was had posted yet and thought I’d just see who it was when they … Read more >>
Everyman 3155/Mar 18
At first I thought there might be a King Lear theme since he showed up along with one of his daughters. But then it petered out. 25A (TELAMON) was new to me and … Read more >>
Independent 6370/Monk
As if to prove that Sudoku really does appear everywhere these day, it’s even made its way into cryptic crosswords. If you don’t know what I’m on about, have a look at the … Read more >>
Guardian 24,027 (Sat 17 Mar)/Araucaria – Glory, Glory Hallelujah
Solving time: About 30 minutes, plus a later look to get the last three clues (asterisked); one mistake. After 10 minutes I think I had solved two and a half clues. Eventually I … Read more >>
Independent 6375/Phi
This was very tough for me today. I could only find a few windows of opportunity to look at the puzzle so I never really got into it. Three answers have left me … Read more >>
Guardian 24,032/Orlando – what does doordie mean?
I have found some of this week’s Guardian crosswords very challenging, and, given that I also had a Times blog to do today, was anxious that today’s would also be difficult. No such … Read more >>
Inquisitor 11 – A novel approach by Lato
Solving time: about 5 hours, but I cheated. I found the end of this puzzle extremely difficult, not being able to spot the novel for ages. After finding answers to all but a couple … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 892 by Quixote – Plant held me up
Difficulty with 16 across, but got it in the end – always a bit weak on plants – one of the crossing clues took me a while to understand also, covered below. Solving … Read more >>
Guardian 24031/Brendan – elephantine planes
Not an easy puzzle for me. Started off well and cracked the theme pretty quickly – but held up for a long time by the NE corner (got the PIGEON/pidgin homophone inverted). I … Read more >>
Independent 6374/Merlin
More wizardry from Merlin. A couple of “adult” clues and some up-to-the-minute pop culture references, along with some excellent clues. There were a few I wasn’t sure about though (1A, 16A, 10D), and one … Read more >>
Independent 6373 / Dac
I think I must be getting more used to the Independent and to Dac because this was very quick to solve, especially since the long clues were very clearly signposted and went in … Read more >>