Never knowingly undersolved
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
This didn’t take me very long, and was short on elation in the solving. Across 9 C EASE F IRE C for constant, ire is anger, ease is to moderate and f for … Read more >>
As older readers will know, we’ve had a couple of evening meetings at London pubs for contributors to and readers of this blog, Times for the Times and Tony Sever’s RTC3. Both times, we’ve also … Read more >>
My favourite clues combine Rufus’s trademark cryptic definitions with wordplay, so as to keep you guessing for longer – 5 and 11 across require unravelling, whereas 17 across couldn’t be anything else. ACROSS: … Read more >>
Across 9 (+M)OBS,TER(-M) – an “obsolete expression” would be an OBS TERM. Move the back (M) to the front to get MOBSTER. 10 TO(Y for P)SHOP – I initally thought the fashion retailer … Read more >>
… and two erections that were not “up” – giving the lie to my pronouncement a few weeks ago that “erection” often means “up” in the Eye puzzle. Some good examples in here … Read more >>
Nice to be welcomed by a fairly straightforward puzzle to ease myself back into cryptic solving – having been on a diet of Les Mots Croises for the past couple of weeks. Scotland … Read more >>
Solving time: 10:16 A really good puzzle this week and much more accurate than normal for the Guardian, with some very elegant clues and clever definitions. Should have been faster but for ‘phenomenal’ … Read more >>
Solving time: ages! The only previous Kruger puzzle I remember was about No. 6 in the Inquisitor series, based on the Offa’s Dyke footpath and associated places – one that I found pretty … Read more >>
Tough: Solving time: 34 mins * = anag < = reversed ACROSS 1 DE (BRIe) EF Feed< 5 POL(IT)ICe 9 FR (l)ITTERED Excellent 10 Oliver TWIST Ditto 12 BOS (TO)NIAN 25 LEV (IATH) … Read more >>
Not the easiest puzzle to return to from France. Puck and Paul must have gone to the same school of cryptic wizardry if their senses of humor are anything to go by. The … Read more >>