Independent 6351/Phi
I found this puzzle incredibly easy, for me, for a Friday, and for Phi. I usually start my crossword on the train from Newcastle to Durham and then pick the paper up later … Read more >>
Guardian 24,008/Orlando – took longer to blog than to solve
Not quite sure how to summarise this puzzle. It was fairly easy, even if some of the references and definitions are not immediately obvious, and, for the most part, the clues made sense. … Read more >>
Inquisitor #7 by Buff – ACADEMY AWARDS
Solving time 2-3 hours I joked with Loonapick a couple of weeks ago that even-numbered Indies were easy and odd-numbered ones hard. Not now, with last week’s Offa’s Dyke marathon and this (for … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 888 by Quixote – tricky in places
This was my slowest Quixote solve of 2007 – contains some good stuff as set out below. Solving time: 34 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 B(AIL)IFF Jointly with 5 down, my favourite … Read more >>
Independent 6350 / Virgilius Curate’s Egg
Solving time: 55 minutes (including 35 minutes of staring at a blank grid) I nearly had a relapse with today’s puzzle. It felt odd because usually with Virgilius, I can wade in, savour the … Read more >>
Guardian 24007/Araucaria – beaten by clubs, shield didn’t help
Solving time: 55’ Humbling. Stared at this for 5 minutes before DRESDEN dropped. The football “club” theme came to mind after another 5 minutes of frustration. At first I thought Premier League but … Read more >>
Independent 6349 / Dac – Beau Nash, Fashionista
My first blog and I’m relieved to get off the mark with no problems! Particularly as I found Monday’s Mass unnervingly hard going! Today’s crossword a good mix of anagrams, homophones and double … Read more >>
Guardian 24006/Quantum – very easy but a sting in the tail
For a while I thought I was going to go sub 5 minutes on this puzzle, but in the end there’s one left that I can’t get. I got the two 15-letter downs … Read more >>
Independent 6348/Nimrod and Tilsit – Double the fun
A new name for the Independent but one our regular readers will certainly recognise! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crossword attributed to more than one setter before, although the Guardian does … Read more >>
Guardian 24,005, Brendan: Lingalongabrendan
There’s usually (always?) a theme from Breandan, and a rather clever one in this case. The six-letter downs in top left and bottom right are all three letter words doubled, and the eight-letter pairs … Read more >>
Guardian 24004/Rufus
As usual with Rufus cryptic definitions abound. There are no fewer than 6 straight CDs in this puzzle with a fair number of punning definitions playing a part in other clues. I’m not … Read more >>
Independent 6347 by Mass – Very tough
Mass is the only one of the setters, there when I first tackled the Indy, who still sets in the daily paper, though he appears less often. His puzzles were among the hardest with great skill … Read more >>
Guardian 23,997/Brummie (Sat Feb 10th [corrected from 3rd]) – Gunned down
Solving time: 10 minutes, one mistake (7 dn). This felt a cavalier solve, with numerous across clues to which I didn’t look closely at the wordplay while solving (e.g. 1, 11, 14, 18, … Read more >>
Everyman 3150/Feb 11 – Belgium
I really wanted to be able to say that if it’s Tuesday it must be Belgium. But sorry it’s Sunday. I’m hoping someone will explain 6D for me. Everyman has done so below… … Read more >>
Azed 1811 – waves and wave-dwellers
Solving time 16:05, without Chambers This is probably about as easy as Azed gets. Easy for me anyway, as 1A was a word I knew, and 9 first letters of relatively easy down … Read more >>