Posted by nmsindy on 31st July 2007
Another wonderful thematic puzzle from Virgilius. All the across entries are synonyms, as explained in the last down clue (26 down).
Posted in Independent | 4 Comments »
Posted by smiffy on 31st July 2007
An extremely accessible today, to the extent that it could well be the fastest I’ve ever solved a broadsheet puzzle in my life. Anagram fiends should be pleased, as the letter-scrambling comes thick and fast throughout, especially the latter down clues.
Posted in FT | No Comments »
Posted by jetdoc on 31st July 2007
Some very characteristic Paulian clues today — 26ac, 8d and (especially) 23d are the sort we have learnt to expect from him and no-one else! Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Guardian | 15 Comments »
Posted by neildubya on 30th July 2007
Probably the easiest Mass puzzle I’ve solved (and definitely the easiest I’ve blogged). There were some really good clues in this but, again, I don’t think much of the cryptic definitions and I really don’t see how 3D can be justified. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 1 Comment »
Posted by loonapick on 30th July 2007
A Rufus puzzle with a few less of his trademark cryptic definitions than usual. A quick blog today because it’s Monday morning, the puzzle wasn’t overly difficult, except for one clue I don’t have the time or energy to work out and I have some other deadlines to meet today (in the real world!)
ACROSS
Posted in Guardian | 13 Comments »
Posted by beermagnet on 29th July 2007
Gordon Brown gets more of a work-out this time in the early clues, as “leader” and is often useful to suggest one of the short “brown” colours, tan, dun, etc.
I might not have all answers right …
Even ignoring 6D I found this trickier than some recent Eye puzzles, though I did write-in a few on the first pass to get going.
The Eye Crossword is noted for its references to people in the clues, so 7D’s mention of Marian and Robin had me thinking of George Galloway’s Marian appeal, and Robin Cook, before considering Mr and Mrs Hood.
But no sign of Jeffrey Archer! This can’t last long surely. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Private Eye/Cyclops | 3 Comments »
Posted by jetdoc on 29th July 2007
This was lots of fun — high-quality clues, as ever, from Azed, with a nice twist to make it even more interesting.
Posted in Azed | 4 Comments »
Posted by ilancaron on 29th July 2007
My Scots theory I think has more evidence in the form of Everyman also being Ascot in the Spectator. This week, JJ is Jeremiah Johnson and admirably the two J’s are checked. Some literary and musical refs as well: Conrad, Satie, Jonson, Auden, Hitchcock — none of whom are Scots though.
Posted in Everyman | 1 Comment »
Posted by Colin Blackburn on 27th July 2007
Good quality puzzle from Phi with a handful of great anagrams. One clue has left me foxed. I think the grid was pangrammatic too.
Posted in Independent | 4 Comments »
Posted by petebiddlecombe on 27th July 2007
Solving time 18:13
A very easy puzzle for me, partly because the theme tied into one of my interests. In eight theme answers, a letter had to be removed before jumbling, and the removed letters in order “identify what occupation the resulting entries have in common”. The other 32 clues were straightforward, with only about a quarter leading to “Chambers words”, so it didn’t take long to spot thematic answer / entry pairs like INCISORS / ?OSSI?I and DRIVER / ?ERDI, leading to theme answers Rossini and Verdi, both composers. The other six composers followed pretty quickly – from the checked letters in other unclued entries rather than from the thematic clues. I solved most of these after the event, though one still puzzles me. For those less acquainted with modern classical composers, Arnold, Ligeti and Reich were probably tricky thematic answers. For other clues, I’ve only listed the ones with the most obscure answers – ask about others in comments if they have you baffled. Defs in double quotes for these are copyright Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd: The Chambers Dictionary 2003. (I’m being lazy and pasting from the CD-Rom version). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Inquisitor | 2 Comments »
Posted by neildubya on 27th July 2007
Something of a novelty for me, this – a Nimrod puzzle where I understood everything (almost). Original choice of theme too; it’s not National Anteater Day or something is it? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 2 Comments »
Posted by neildubya on 27th July 2007
The easiest crossword I’ve done in quite some time leading to my first ever “clean-sweep” (I think this is a technical term meaning that you solve every clue in a puzzle in order, across then down). I didn’t time myself but I started when then bus-stop indicator was telling me my bus was 7 minutes away and I finished before it arrived. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FT | 1 Comment »
Posted by loonapick on 27th July 2007
This is the first time I have blogged an Auster puzzle. This one has a real mix of very clever and very easy clues, as well as one or two that don’t pass muster in my (pedantic?) opinion. (13ac, 17 ac, for example)
Posted in Guardian | No Comments »
Posted by tilsit on 27th July 2007
Solving Time: 68 minutes
Probably the toughest Guardian crossword I have encountered in a very long time.
I made a good start with the big anagram but it just went backwards with unfamiliar words and cleverly hidden allusions within the clues.
Posted in Guardian | 9 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 26th July 2007
Posted in Independent | No Comments »
Posted by tilsit on 26th July 2007
Solving Time: 26 minutes
The answer to my question is contained in today’s 1 across. Another nice puzzle and, I’m
pleased to say, a great deal easier than his appearance as Pasquale in last Saturday’s
Guardian (more tomorrow!).
Posted in FT | 1 Comment »
Posted by linxit on 26th July 2007
The last time I blogged a Gordius puzzle was just a couple of weeks ago (10th July anyway), and it was memorable for a few things. I had to rush my cat to the vets, I burnt my dinner, and the puzzle was really really hard! So, I approached this with a bit of trepidation, and with good reason. It had a lot of similarities to last time too – some difficult words (e.g. 4dn, 14ac, 15dn, 16dn, 17dn, 24ac), some brilliant clues (I really liked 1ac, 6dn and 20ac, plus 26ac for the scatological anagram!), and another swipe at George Bush (15dn). Last time (5dn) he was defined as a primitive primate.
Posted in Guardian | 10 Comments »
Posted by neildubya on 26th July 2007
An excellent and thoroughly enjoyable puzzle from Math. There’s a theme too, but you don’t need to know anything about The Simpsons in order to complete the grid as all of the thematic words are separately defined. The long-awaited Simpsons movie opens tomorrow so I’m sure the timing of this puzzle was not a coincidence. I wonder if there were any solvers who finished this and were blissfully ignorant of what was going on? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 4 Comments »
Posted by Pete Maclean on 26th July 2007
Another elegant puzzle from Cincinnus that I found a bit more difficult than most of his.
Posted in FT | No Comments »
Posted by michod on 25th July 2007
Yes, as JFK said, I truly am a doughnut – I’ve been waiting for someone else to post, when all along it was me – d’oh! A nice Pauline puzzle anyway, mit einem Deutschen Thema – nine German words, all pretty familiar in English. Ten if you include DIESEL, named after inventor Rudolph Diesel, but I don’t think they call it that in Germany, so it’s really our word. A couple of indirect indications of the sort customary with this setter, flagged up with a ? in the clue.
Posted in Guardian | 10 Comments »
Posted by smiffy on 25th July 2007
Some good-humoured stuff from Cinephile. A little lighter on thematic content than I’ve come to expect from him, although he did exploit the idiosyncrasies of this FT-specific grid (effectively four separate quadrants) to fill the central intersection with a flock/cloud/colony/parliament of “flyers” (TIT/BAT/AUK/OWL).
Posted in FT | No Comments »
Posted by tilsit on 25th July 2007
Apologies for the lateness. Trip to Manchester that turned into a nightmare and nearly resulted in an overnight hospital stay.
Posted in Independent | 2 Comments »
Posted by neildubya on 24th July 2007
Across
1 COQUET
4ALNMOUTH This was my start point. It looked like an anagram, and that gave me 21 across.
10 AND OR RAN
11 IN DISC R IM IN ATE
12 PRE SIGNIFY Y setting of ” gins if”gave me the anagram, and then prey sprang to mind.
14 TYNE It was only after I put it in that I saw it came from twenTY NEarly.
16 COMB
18 FOUR LEGGED Again I got the answer before I saw the anagram of rule in the midst of fogged.
21 NOR THUMBER LAND. Being a well brought up boy I got the Norland reference quickly!
24 HEX HAM
25 SCHEDULE as in shed yule.
26 ALS T O N, also about t(ime) followed by Northumberland’s first.
Posted in Guardian | 13 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 24th July 2007
Even by Virgilius’ exalted standards, I thought this was really special – famous names reversed being a big part of it. The theme revealed itself gradually as the grid filled up.
Posted in Independent | 9 Comments »
Posted by tilsit on 24th July 2007
Solving Time: 14 minutes
Fairly straightforward fare with a couple of nice off-the-wall clues. Bit baffled by 24 down.
Posted in FT | 3 Comments »