Independent 6416 by Nestor – very tough, very original
Nestor (Kea to Listener solvers) is a very gifted setter. This was a very hard puzzle and I do have some doubts, set out below. I’ll edit to include any corrections received. (All … Read more >>
Guardian 24,073: et tu, Gordius?
Then fall, Tony! Thrice hath the crowd asked Caesar to stay, but… That’s showbiz! Maybe Blair will follow his old mate Clinton and set a special crossword? ( http://www.nytimes.com/ref/crosswords/clintonpuz.html ) if you haven’t seen it). I … Read more >>
Guardian 24072/Paul
Solving time: approx. 20 mins Paul’s normally pretty tricky, but this one was quite easy and I should have finished much faster. A good percentage of the acrosses went in straight away, as … Read more >>
Independent 6415/Dac
A puzzle of two halves for me today. About half of it went in very quickly indeed, then I stalled. Returning through the day whenever I had a few minutes I picked off … Read more >>
Independent 6414/Virgilius – 10A-y
Another very entertaining puzzle from Virgilius. No theme that I could see, unless it’s very subtle or I’m very slow today. Either is equally possible. Across 1 SECOND INCOM(e),MAN,D 9 (GOOD LINER)* – … Read more >>
Guardian 24,071/Brendan – “almost” easy
In my mind, while solving this puzzle, I was thinking that this preamble would say how easy this crossword was, then I came across a word I didn’t know, but was able … Read more >>
Independent 6413/Mass
I felt slightly short-changed by this puzzle but that’s probably just because of the grid! Hardly seemed worth going for the full 15×15 with only 3 white squares in the left and right … Read more >>
Guardian 24070/Rufus – not Ximenean
Solving time: 20’ The recent setters table on this site has had me wondering about the Ximenean vs. Libertarian classification – Rufus has been tagged as the latter. This puzzle has convinced me: … Read more >>
Genius 46/Brummie – “having one too many”
This was the least challenging Genius for a while, but it was an enjoyable solve, nonetheless. Once you solved the across clues, you were left with a fairly straightforward anagram, and the down … Read more >>
Everyman 3161/slipped on cargoship?
Solving time: pretty quickly except for one clue I went through this at a pretty good clip but I’m still befuddled by the wordplay for 5D (CARGOSHIP) : I suspect I’ve completely missed … Read more >>
Azed 1,822: Reasons to be cheerful
NUDDY at 12 across brought to mind the lines from Ian Dury’s ‘Reasons to be Cheerful – Part 3: “Something nice to study, phoning up a buddy, being in my nuddy”. The song, … Read more >>
Independent 6406/Phi
This seemed like a harder-than-usual effort from Phi, although no less entertaining for that. It got me wondering about the Saturday slot of the Indie puzzle though: does a setter who usually sets … Read more >>
Guardian 24,063 (Sat 28 Apr)/Paul – “It’s good spelling, but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places”
Solving time: 8:15 An easier puzzle than usual from Paul, with no 10ac that I could see. Beginners’ tips: ‘criminal’ = FENCE, ‘fairy’ = PERI, ‘essay’ = TRY, ‘kiss’ = X. * = … Read more >>
Independent 6411/Phi – All at sixes and sevens?
A satisfying and well-worked crossword although there are a couple I’m looking for further explanation on. Very unusually for me I spotted a nina in the unchecked letters on the middle column and … Read more >>
Inquisitor 17 – Subject to Change / Charybdis
Solving time: c. 80 mins A fairly gentle puzzle this one – thematic clues just lead to phrases of words associated with the school subjects mentioned. Enumerations for these indicated which phrases had … Read more >>