Independent 6261/Math – Eightsquared
Solving time: 6:04 An impressive 11 answers on a 24dn theme, though only 13ac, 14dn and possibly 16ac are likely to have caused any difficulty for anyone with only a passing knowledge. I … Read more >>
Guardian 23919/Paul – just my luck for my first post!
According to Hugh Stephenson, the Guardian crossword editor, Paul is the toughest of all the setters on the team. This puzzle certainly suggests that he’s not fibbing! My solving time was 29:44. I … Read more >>
Guardian 23918/Gordius – A reasonable amount of 11A.
Across 1 QUAKERS – r, square (anag). The formal name for the Quakers is the Religious Society of Friends. 5 PELISSE – a long cloak, often with a fur lining. Homophone clue as … Read more >>
Independent 6260 by Dac – Excellent, varied, fair
This had all the attributes I associate with Dac – flowing clues, variation, trickery, always accessible in the end. Average in difficulty for a Dac for me – solved in 17 mins. ACROSS … Read more >>
Guardian 23917/Taupi — Bad start for me!
Solving time : 45 minute bus journey plus some looking up when I got to work. I had hoped that a Tuesday Guardian puzzle would be a gentle start to my blogging, instead … Read more >>
Independent 6259/Virgilius – A fairly easy 4A.
If you’re familiar with Virgilius (Brendan in the Guardian) you were probably expecting some sort of theme or grid wizardry when you saw today’s puzzle. Somewhat surprising then, to discover that today’s is … Read more >>
Guardian 23916/Rufus
Solving time: 29’ Rufus puzzles are always fair, fairly straightforward with sensible surface readings and rarely does he use obscure vocabulary. He’s considered at the easy end of the Guardian scale. In this … Read more >>
Guardian 23,915 by Bunthorne
Today’s Guardian puzzle is the last by the late Bunthorne. More from someone after the competition closing date…
Guardian 23,914 by Brummie – Pretty tough
I found it hard to get going with this; I did about 6 clues in 20 minutes and then got stuck. So I did something else for a while, came back to it … Read more >>
Independent 6256 / Phi – easy but good …
(a rival entry for the other I just glimpsed – let’s see how far we agree on clues to write about…) Solving time 4:32 … which is my view of Phi puzzles in general … Read more >>
Indy 6256 Friday 3 November by Phi
Phi is another of the Indy’s weekly regulars. I first encountered him in advanced puzzles. Puzzles characterised by very accurate construction – I find I always understand the answer, once found. This make … Read more >>
Independent 6255/Monk – Pangrammatism
Solving time : ? done in dribs and drabs through the day As I started to solve this puzzle I quickly realised it might be pangrammatic as I’d got a Z, X and … Read more >>
Guardian 23913/Rover
Solving time: 45’ Rover is on the more rigorous end of the Guardian scale: he (she?) typically has both clean wordplay and sensible surface readings. Today’s puzzle has some good puns (1A, 17A, … Read more >>
Guardian 23912/Araucaria
Solving time: 1h+ Ah, Araucaria. The most Ximenean of the crowd in terms of wordplay but absolutely a horror when it comes to meaningful surfaces. Today’s theme is putting out fires. As per … Read more >>
Dac in Indy Wed 1 11 2006
Dac is one of the 5 setters who appears in the Indy (including IoS) every week. One of the best clue writers around – clues always reading very well. Noting solving times over … Read more >>