Inquisitor 18 by Dysart ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY!
I thought this was an excellent puzzle from Dysart who debuted in the Listener last year and has since appeared twice in the Indy, this being the second one, and also very recently … Read more >>
Guardian 24074 / Araucaria – Doubling Up
Solving time: 27 minutes It is lovely to be able to blog the doyen of crossword setters, but we get off to the wrong start with the grid design. I really dislike this … Read more >>
Independent 6417 by Phi
After yesterday’s super-difficult puzzle by Nestor, a straightforward one to follow – such alternation is a good policy if it is intended. Solving time: 10 mins (compared with yesterday’s 71) * = anagram … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 899 by Quixote
Solving time: 15 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 BACK Pleasing double definition 10 LIME (RICK) S 11 Don’t cast a CLOUT till May is out. Old proverb re clothes. Puzzle is first … Read more >>
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 >>