A New Look
I thought the blog could do with a lick of paint – hope you like the new look. Neil
Azed 1815 – online glitches?
The four longest entries in the puzzle were fairly straightforward, so I got off to a flier. I then attacked the rest of the puzzle, and quickly worked out or guessed most of … Read more >>
Guardian 24,021/Shed (Sat 10 Mar) – Waggish
Solving time: 11:46 Amusing theme this week centred on 15ac involving several across answers (and 22dn), giving me an ideal excuse for a football rant. Steve McClaren wouldn’t even have been on my … Read more >>
Independent 6369/Phi
Apologies for the brief write-up today – am a bit pressed for time. A fine puzzle from Phi, with a few excellent clues. Across 11 AG,EG in GRATE – nice deceptive use of … Read more >>
Inquisitor #10/Green Cross Code by Schadenfreude
This was the easiest Inquisitor of the year so far in my opinion. Once I had worked out that the entries at 13ac and 43ac led to the Seven Sages, and that 42ac … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 891 by Quixote – the usual excellent fare
Solved this during a flight, confident that Quixote’s clues would be accessible and fully understood. Solving time: 25 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 DI RECTOR’S HIP You expect a church reference from … Read more >>
Independent 6368/Nimrod — Think!
After Tuesday’s breeze, for me, today’s puzzle was a nightmare. I bought the paper late, just couldn’t get into the puzzle and ended up having to cheat (TEA) to finish it with two … Read more >>
Guardian 24,025/Quantum – beaten by one clue
Fairly straightforward crossword, with some good clues and one I couldn’t work out (23ac – thanks BenIngton). After the fare served up by Brummie and Paul so far this week, this was less … Read more >>
Independent 6367/Dac
Another demonstration of why crosswords don’t have to be difficult to be entertaining. Interesting, and subtle, ambiguity at 3A though. Across 3 (FAR LESS BIG)* – I filled in FIBRE GLASS at first … Read more >>
Guardian 24024 / Paul A Ripping Yarn!
Solving time: 21 minutes As one of the stars in the Guardian firmament, Paul can always be relied upon to provide an enjoyable challenge that will produce a smile or two en route. … Read more >>
Guardian 24023/Brummie
An excellent, if easy, puzzle from Brummie with a surplus of good anagrams and partial anagrams. Some of the clues were very wordy, several running to three lines, but every word seemed to … Read more >>
Independent 6366/Virgilius – Revelation
A quick start and middle was followed by a gradual slowdown as I picked my way through the bottom left-hand corner. Enjoyed both the fast part and the slower part though. Still not … Read more >>
Independent 6365 by Hypnos – Gentle start to the week
A pleasing and not too difficult puzzle by Hypnos, one of the occasional setters. Quite a few anagrams among the 22 clues. When I saw the central across clue contained “theme”, I thought the puzzle … Read more >>
Guardian 24,022, Rufus: The Rufus paradox
Doing better than last week – I’ve managed to post in the morning even though the paperboy delivered the Telegraph with ‘Sorry, no Gaurdian’ written on it (no irony intended, I assume). Sorry if … Read more >>
Sloggers and Betters 2
For a second time, some of the contributors to this blog, Times for the Times and RTC3 are meeting in a London pub. The chosen venue is “Shaw’s Booksellers” in St Andrew’s Hill, near Blackfriars, on … Read more >>