Independent 6580/Monk
Across 3 A,MB,U,LANCES – I hesitated a bit over this as I didn’t know that LANCE=move quickly but with A,MB,U and a definition of “hospital transport” there’s not much else it can be. … Read more >>
Beelzebub 926/Phi (11-11-07)
Across 1 L in BASH – I hesitated over this at first because I couldn’t see why “go” = BASH. Then I remembered “have a bash at [something]”. 11 (SIGN BLOOMERS)* – REBLOSSOMING. … Read more >>
Our first appearance in the national press
(For those that missed it, this is the completed grid of Independent 6582 by Virgilius. Thanks to Eimi for supplying the image)
Guardian 24241: Chifonie — Know your abbreviations
A pretty straightforward daily cryptic, though you did need to know a few single-letter and two-letter abbreviations (like three ‘meanings’ of D). There were several obvious, as it seemed to me, anagrams; if … Read more >>
Independent 6584 by Phi
Phi usually appears on Friday rather than today (Thursday). Wondered if there was a date-specific reason for this, but cannot see a theme. Quite an easy puzzle, I found. Solving time, 15 mins … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 927 by Quixote
Tougher than usual, I thought. Solving time: 31 mins Notes on some clues below, happy to explain others if asked. ACROSS 6 A PLACE IN THE SUN “An opportunity for the high life? … Read more >>
Independent 6583/Dac – Wednesday 21.11.07
As usual Dac’s clues are consistently excellent. Few stand out (except for 14D), but they are always sound and have clear good surfaces. It’s a bit like Mozart (although Dac might feel a … Read more >>
Guardian 24,240 Paul – “Egrets: I’ve Had a Few …”
A very pleasant and reasonably humane puzzle from Paul. The best strategy with his puzzles I find is to pick off the rare easy ones, hope they give you letters for the multi-word solutions he … Read more >>
Independent 6582/Virgilius – All Square-d!
A couple of weeks ago I had an email from someone – let’s call him E – advising me to make sure I was blogging today’s puzzle. “How intriguing”, I thought at the … Read more >>
Guardian 24239/Gordius – tough but fair?
I see that a lot of you took advantage of the chance to comment on this beforehand, so I’m glad I left the placeholder message this morning. As it turned out, I was … Read more >>
Independent No 6581 by Mordred
Across 9 Capo: Truman Capote (US writer) – TE (note from doh, re..) 10 Metalloidal: (made a lot ill)*. Tricky word. 13 Octopod: Initial letters running backwards. Also some & lit because the … Read more >>
Guardian 24238/Rufus – raga man
I felt this was Rufus at his worst to be honest. There were too many long anagrams and too many unconvincing cryptic defs (yes, I realize this judgement is in the eye of … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 352 – Hyperactive deficiency
I don’t time myself when solving crosswords. I know I’m not very fast compared to most other people on this blog, and frankly it’s a bit late to start doing that now. However … Read more >>
Azed 1850
Like Jane last week I found this Azed relatively straightforward. It had the usual mix of obscure answers, obscure elements in the wordplay and tricky devices but it was scrupulously fair and so … Read more >>
Guardian 24,231 (Sat 10 Nov)/Araucaria – Blyton rock
Solving time: 25 mins, one missing (18dn) This puzzle was largely a tribute to Enid Blyton who would have been 110 this year (see 24ac). The bottom half of the puzzle fell out … Read more >>