Independent 6501 by Phi
A bit more challenging than the usual Phi, but not as satisfying. A lot of tenuous clueing in place of the usual witty word play. Across 1 BORSCHT TH(C+S)ROB<. Fairly tenuous with ‘c’ … Read more >>
Beelzebub/Phi 912 (05-08-07)
I thought this was a cracking puzzle. It looked like it was going to be a lot harder than it turned out to be as my first pass over the across clues yielded … Read more >>
Independent 6496/Nestor
Absolutely brilliant puzzle from Nestor and very possibly the hardest blocked puzzle I’ve solved in recent memory (and there have been some tough Times puzzles over the last couple of weeks). To be … Read more >>
Guardian 24158/Araucaria – Araucaria?
Not a cross-reference in sight nor a long anagram. Was this really Araucaria? I can’t even detect a theme of sorts. Now that I’ve said this, will someone prove me wrong? Across 1 … Read more >>
FT 12538 by Monk – Nudge Nudge Wink Wink Say No More!!
Solving time: 26 minutes Terrific fun today from Monk with some real laugh-aloud clues including 1 across and 13 down. Nina hunters (those little hidden messages in puzzles) will be delighted to see … Read more >>
Inquisitor 32/Loda – A La Natasha
As far as Inquisiotrs go, this was pretty straightforward. A few recent puzzles have been of the “extra word in the clue” type, so I am becoming accustomed to them. In this example, … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 913 by Quixote
Solving time: 19 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 T(RAJ)AN A Roman Emperor Raj = British rule in India 4 OBSERVER A competing Sunday newspaper 9 COT … Read more >>
Independent 6500 by Nimrod – Tribute to the King
A puzzle timed for the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley, who to this blogger remains the King – for his earlier music and films especially. There were 7 lines of … Read more >>
Guardian 24,157, Orlando: I done it wrong
It was mostly quite easy, but with a fiendish top right corner that held me up for ages, and I messed up on two clues early on, which didn’t help. Only finished properly … Read more >>
Azed 1836 – Plain Competition Puzzle
Solving time: 57 minutes A nice friendly monthly puzzle from Azed, with some clever clueing and no need to resort to brain straining themes or devices. I wonder whether indicating hyphenated answers would … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,528 by Cinephile — Fiendishly Easy
Actually for me the difficulty of this puzzle was fairly average, leavened a bit by a typical kind of Cinephile theme, fiends. I have enjoyed puzzles by John Graham (Cinephile/Araucaria) for many years … Read more >>
Independent 6499 by Dac
Solving time: 16 mins < = reversed * = anagram ACROSS 1 Tom SHARPE “Sharp” 4 B (LACK S) E A be = live on the borders = outside 9 RISQUE … Read more >>
Guardian 24156/Paul
Well, this wasn’t too difficult at all, much to my surprise. I forgot to set the timer going, but I solved it in around 15 or 16 minutes. There were still some tricky … Read more >>
Independent 6498 by Merlin
A very pleasing puzzle, which I found quite easy. Solving time: 22 mins * = anagram < = reverse ACROSS 9 OVERT RUMP Ruff (a term from the card game bridge, I … Read more >>
Financial Times 12536/Armonie
Just a short blog for this puzzle as many of the clues don’t really need much explaining. One thing you could never accuse Armonie of is unnecessary complexity in his clueing as the … Read more >>