Independent 6515/Mordred
I found 90% of this crossword a doddle and then struggled filling in the last few answers. There was the odd word in the wordplay that I’d have expected more in a Morded … Read more >>
Guardian Genius 50, Enigmatist: Lights, camera, action
Thematic answers are all types of of light, camera or action. These clues don’t have definitions, apart from the number referring to 1d, 2d or 3d. Once you work that out, without a … Read more >>
Azed 1839 – fairly tough
Solving time 42:56 I used Chambers earlier than normal – after putting in about half a dozen answers. This puzzle seems to have a fairly high proportion of unfamiliar answers, which I think … Read more >>
Guardian 24,165 (Sat 25 Aug)/Araucaria – Out of the Audenary
Solving time: 55 mins, references for 11 and 25 in grid A. Araucaria’s special Bank Holiday double puzzle was themed around the poet W H Auden, who would have celebrated his hundredth birthday … Read more >>
Independent 6513 by Phi
Solving time: 20 mins * = anagram > = reversal ACROSS 1 RHAPSODIC o in (harp disc)* 6 (e)QUIP 11 T (OU L) ON 14 BALL A DEER 15 TEMP O 16 A … Read more >>
Guardian 24170/Araucaria
Well, my Internet connection seems fine this morning, so hopefully that means they’ve fixed it properly this time! Anyway, as a few people have already commented, this was an absolute beast of a … Read more >>
Beelzebub 914/Phi (19-08-07)
I found this is a bit trickier than the last couple of Beelzebub puzzles and I even had to use Bradford’s on a couple of occasions. There are a couple of clues – … Read more >>
Independent 6508/Hypnos
Reasonably easy puzzle but with a sting in the tail for me. I got 4A quickly so was able to fill in the answers to the thematic clues with not much thought. The … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,540 by Mudd
I quickly finished the left half of the grid. It then took me a couple of days before I got a good start on the right side. Once I did, I finished it … Read more >>
Inquisitor 34/Phi – Look Here! No, Here! No, Here!
Either I am getting better at Inquisitors or this one was not as challenging as it first appeared. When I bought the paper last week, I took one look at the puzzle and … Read more >>
Independent 6512/Nimrod
18D was the key to cracking this one although I somehow got two of the clues that refer to it before working out what was going on. I haven’t played Cluedo since I … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 915 by Quixote
An unusual mixture of some very easy clues and extremely tricky ones to finish. Harder than usual – solving time: 28 mins. A short blog but happy to explain any other clues if … Read more >>
Guardian 24169/Audreus – seperate
Found this hard for Audreus – who I’ve blogged a couple of times in the past. Had to resort to the dictionary to solve the anagram at 7D which looked awfully unlikely in … Read more >>
FT 12,549/Io – A relatively 27A solve
This was a tough nut to crack, at least by FT standards. I don’t have regular access to other daily puzzles that are blogged on this site, but I suspect that the difficulty … Read more >>
Guardian 24168 / Gordius – Lock Up Your Dorters
A change of pace after yesterday’s Paul brainbuster. It still required two coffees, Mrs Stan and Crossword Buddy (http://www.loquax.co.uk/puzzles/) to complete however, which probably says more about the state of my mind than the … Read more >>