FT 12609/Cinephile
Solving time : Not sure because I got my stopwatch wrong, but it was quite long before I understood everything and even now I’m not sure about one or two. Cinephile’s crosswords tend … Read more >>
FT 12,608/Neo ~ Doone Revisited
I solved this one much later in the day than usual, which could well be the reason that it didn’t really float my boat as much as a typical Neo offering does. I … Read more >>
Guardian 24228/Enigmatist – am I a fool?
Only fools would agree to blog a puzzle with such a parochial Britcom theme. Having said that, I’ve actually seen an episode or two here and there but I had to invoke the … Read more >>
Independent 6570/Virgilius — pull the other one.
The theme for today’s Virgilius is lies, tall tales and shaggy dog stories. All the across answers are thematic and with the constraints imposed on the grid by the long themed answers there … Read more >>
Guardian 24,227, Brummie: Rhine whine
Brummie seems to be becoming more regular, which is generally to be welcomed, though I don’t think this is one of his best, and several long clues seem to me to fall into the NCD (not cryptic … Read more >>
Guardian 24226 – Rufus / Easy start to the week
Solving Time: 10 minutes Nice, pleasant start to the week. Nothing too challenging. 5 down being my last entry. ACROSS (* = ANAGRAM; (CD) = Cryptic definition; (R) REVERSAL 1 REVEAL A … Read more >>
Now we are one
It’s just occurred to me that this blog is one year old this week (I can’t remember our exact birthday; it might be the 7th). I’d like to thank bloggers and readers alike … Read more >>
Independent 6569/Glow-worm – Remember, remember…
Across 1 K in (PEARLS)*,R – SPARKLER. Got this straight off, and all of the other thematic answers followed soon after. 10/5 (LAND)* in ROMANCE – ROMAN CANDLE. The last thematic answer I … Read more >>
Guardian Genius 52: Lavatch — Here know weevil
When I first downloaded this one, it lacked a preamble. Having solved it without one (not boasting or anything!), I returned to the website, where a brief preamble had been added. The principle, … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 351 – Up or down
There are occasions when the answer to a clue is a word or its reverse, and there is nothing in the clue to indicate which. So you end up relying on crossing checking … Read more >>
Guardian 24,219 (Sat 27 Oct)/Araucaria – Dusty answers
Solving time: 25 mins, two missing (26ac and 8dn). The ‘cloth hats’ referred to in the preamble were all reptiles (REP = ‘cloth’, TILES = ‘hats’), though unless KOMODO DRAGON at 19dn/29ac (my … Read more >>
Azed 1848 – never did the pogo
I was bamboozled by the NW corner and had to resort to an email friend (in this case, PeterB) largely because I fell into the trap of RUMBA for our Cuban dance at … Read more >>
Independent 6567/Phi
Across 1 hidden reversed in “BritiSH CASt” – Hans SACHS is a character in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg and, I was surprised to discover, an actual real life person. 4 KEW,IS in … Read more >>
Guardian Friday 2.11.07/Chifonie
Solving time : 22 minutes. This is a fairly quick time for me, which is probably why I quite enjoyed this. I wonder about some of the assessments under the tab “Setters” above. Tees the … Read more >>
Independent 6562/Nimrod
Across 8 PEN,PUS,HER – I don’t understand what “Caribbean estate” is and how it links to PEN, if at all. 9 NO,TED – “observed” is the definition, the rest of the clue is … Read more >>