Guardian 29,393 / Brummie

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It was something of a surprise to see Brummie’s name for the third time in ten days but no complaints here. Brummie’s puzzles often have a theme but I haven’t spotted one today. … Read more >>

Independent 11,740/Twin

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A delightful Bank Holiday puzzle from Twin, with concise and precise clueing accompanied by some delightful surfaces. Bravo.   Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition cad clue as definition (xxxx)* anagram anagrind … Read more >>

Azed No. 2,709 Plain

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Most of this was quite routine and the usual satisfactory product, but one or two gave me a lot of trouble. One was a complete mystery until I looked up one of the words, which was new to me. I’m still unsure about one of the others and would welcome explanations, since mine is a bit tenuous.

Definitions in crimson, underlined. Anagrams shown (like this)* or *(like this), depending on where the indicator (in italics) is.

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Everyman 4,048

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I thought this was very difficult and there was a period of panic when I thought I’d have to give up and ask for help, but eventually one fell, a fairly obvious one really but it defeated me for a long time, and the others were then solvable. It took a long time to get started, but once I had done so everything went in easily enough, until I reached the impasse already described.

Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (homophone, reversal, hidden, anagram etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in green.

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Guardian Quick Cryptic 8 by Picaroon

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This is the eighth Guardian Quick Cryptic, a series of 11 x 11 crosswords designed to support beginners learning cryptic crosswords.  The whole point of these crosswords is support and encouragement of new solvers, so special rules for these crosswords apply – see here.  The puzzle can be found here.

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