Inquisitor 49 – CHANGING PLACES by Loda
Good Crossword by Loda! Ten countries with new names had to be written as their old names in the grid, and ten old names had to be substituted for their new names before the clues … Read more >>
Guardian 24260/Brendan – The Sound of Musicians
I always feel more intelligent after solving a Brendan puzzle — I think it’s because he is fair, challenging and there’s a clever nina or theme which is always gratifying to identify. Anyway, … Read more >>
Guardian 24,259 Paul : If it wisnae for your Wellies, where wud you be ?
Apologies for lateness – wrote a whole entry this morning and lost it. Baaad IT bloke – didn’t save my work as I went along. In the end – really quite a straight … Read more >>
Independent 6602/Nimrod
This is the first puzzle I’ve solved in what has so far been a pretty miserable week, with myself and MrsD both laid low with a virus and our 8 month old son … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 930 by Quixote
I found this quite an easy puzzle – solving time 15 mins but there’s one I do not understand. Notes on some clues below, including that one. Happy to explain others if asked … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,630 by Cincinnus
This puzzle is the most difficult Cincinnus I can remember tackling, not hard across the board but very challenging in a few places. Did others find it unusually tough as well? Across 1. … Read more >>
FT 12,639/Cinephile – Slugs and snails and puppy dogs’ tails…
Even though the “theme” is pretty obvious, on immediate inspection of the clues, the category itself (boys’ names) is pretty expansive. So it still took me a few minutes to figure out the last couple … Read more >>
Independent 6601 by Dac
A pleasing puzzle by Dac. Solving time: 18 mins * = (anagram)* < = reversed ACROSS 1 DEF (l = L) ECT Excellent misleading surface 11 RO (A) ST (i) … Read more >>
Guardian 24,258, Araucaria: Blues and Royals
A pretty tough one this, took a good half hour and left me in doubt about the wordplay of two clues, including the main theme-word. But I think I’m there now. I thought … Read more >>
Independent 6600/Virgilius — The Man Killers
Another highly thematic puzzle from Virgilius. In this case all the down answers can be seen as dangerous women. Corrections and clarifications are in italics. Across 9 AZORES — “as oars” 14 ENAMEL … Read more >>
Guardian 24257 / Chifonie Labour of Love
Solving time: 12 minutes. Solving a Chifonie puzzle often seems to me like a labour of love. Nice when you finish, but you don’t get the feeling of accomplishment that you do with … Read more >>
Language and libertarianism
I think we need a new term for a particular kind of clue – the ones which rely on a word in the clue being split into its component parts, in the way that all crosswords … Read more >>
Guardian 24256/Rufus
Solving time 10:07 Sorry for the lateness of the post, but I’ve been away from the computer all day and only just got round to solving it. Typical Rufus with lots of cryptic … Read more >>
Independent 6599 by Punk – Nation States
One of those themed crosswords where a large number of the clues draw their definition from one of the other clues (in this case 11 across). With this type of puzzle, you either … Read more >>
Guardian Genius Puzzle 53 / Locum One man’s homophone….
Solving time: 24 minutes. One I tackled while in hospital. Although it wasn’t the most satisfying of puzzles, it held me while I worked out whether each of the homophone double answers could … Read more >>