Solving time: 20 mins

* = anagram > = reversal

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Well, my Internet connection seems fine this morning, so hopefully that means they’ve fixed it properly this time! Anyway, as a few people have already commented, this was an absolute beast of a puzzle. It took me just under an hour, but that was with Bradford’s and Chambers out, and in one case Google (18d). I wasn’t helped by the fact that the instruction about across entries being anagrams of their opposite numbers was missing from my printout version (although it’s there now).

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I found this is a bit trickier than the last couple of Beelzebub puzzles and I even had to use Bradford’s on a couple of occasions. There are a couple of clues – 15A and 16D – where I’m not convinced I’ve got the right answer, or I don’t understand the wordplay. Read the rest of this entry »

Reasonably easy puzzle but with a sting in the tail for me. I got 4A quickly so was able to fill in the answers to the thematic clues with not much thought. The rest was quite straightfoward with the exception of 31A and 27A, which together took me almost as long as the rest of the puzzle. Very irksome. Read the rest of this entry »

I quickly finished the left half of the grid. It then took me a couple of days before I got a good start on the right side. Once I did, I finished it quickly too. Even now there is one clue that I do not completely understand.

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Either I am getting better at Inquisitors or this one was not as challenging as it first appeared.  When I bought the paper last week, I took one look at the puzzle and thought “Oh! This looks tough”.  However, when I actually sat down and had a go at it a week later, it was actually quite easy.

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18D was the key to cracking this one although I somehow got two of the clues that refer to it before working out what was going on. I haven’t played Cluedo since I was a kid and the only characters I remembered were the ones in 1D and 8D. The rest weren’t too tricky to get but some of the other clues in the puzzle were very tough (22A and 2D in particular) and there were a couple of (to me anyway) obscure words (RIANT and TAIPING). Good puzzle though, and a very satisfying solve. Read the rest of this entry »

An unusual mixture of some very easy clues and extremely tricky ones to finish. Harder than usual – solving time: 28 mins.

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Found this hard for Audreus – who I’ve blogged a couple of times in the past. Had to resort to the dictionary to solve the anagram at 7D which looked awfully unlikely in any permutation (PHTHALEIN). Not to mention an obscure poet at 18D… (that said, I’m sure some of you can recite verses and verses of FLECKER at will). I felt that some of the clues had weakish surfaces (no sycophancy here!)… see below.

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This was a tough nut to crack, at least by FT standards.  I don’t have regular access to other daily puzzles that are blogged on this site, but I suspect that the difficulty level here is not dissimilar from those seen under the setter’s other guises (Enigmatist/Nimrod).  A lot more imagination and lateral thinking today than you would typically encounter in the
pink ‘un, and – unusually for the FT – I felt the need to confirm a couple of answers post-solving.

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A change of pace after yesterday’s Paul brainbuster. It still required two coffees, Mrs Stan and Crossword Buddy (http://www.loquax.co.uk/puzzles/) to complete however, which probably says more about the state of my mind than the level of difficulty.

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Another excellent puzzle from Dac, with all stacking up in the end, some cleverly concealed definitions – very tough, esp SE corner, though this blogger’s cinematic ignorance contributed to that.

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A mostly straightforward puzzle from Virgilius. Three hidden clues made for an easy start and a quick fill for me. However, I still have doubts about one answer and a couple of clues are still leave me wondering about the wordplay. There were an awful lot of Ps, Cs, Hs and Ks but other than the middle line of unches spelling out DICK I’m not sure if there was a theme.

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I started slowly, and didn’t feel in tune with the puzzle at all, maybe it was the bruising effect of trying to solve Saturday’s twin puzzles…….
Across
9 URTICARIA Often references to rash lead to Urticaria, which is Nettlerash. (H)urt – harmful without the ‘h’, ic, sounds like I see, and “Your Tiny Hand is Frozen” is an aria from La Boheme.
10 MULCT is to fine, and is found reversed in ‘act clumsily’.
11 CHE SARA SARA – ‘what will be, will be’, and an anagram of search a Sara.
12 BASTION – Backwards ‘nob’ holding ‘asti’, a sparkling wine.
14 COIN C ID ENT . ‘Coin is cash, and ID within a cent.
16 TURNOUT for a while I was convinced this was tourist, but it isn’t!
17 BEN GAL I
19 OVER CO OK ED, co-ed being the abbreviation for co-educational.Paul thinks of OK as meaning reasonably. If you believe it is an acronym for Orl Korrect, then this seems rather grudging.
14 MORDENT – a musical embellishment, like a trill, and an anagram of modern t(imes).
25 DI LUTE D
27 CON SON ANT, an ‘a’ is certainly not a consonant, but a con is a kid, a son is a boy, and some ants are soldier ants.

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Sorry for the late post.  Don’t have a lot to say about this puzzle.  Mostly fair, some good surfaces, the usual smattering of cryptic definitions that Rufus likes to use.

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I’ve only got time to say a few general comments on this puzzle so if anyone is stuck on any of the clues please leave a comment and I’ll do my best to help. If any of the bloggers wants to do a full review of it, please feel free.

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NORWICH is an acronym for “kNickers Off Ready When I Come Home” as used by WWII soldiers when writing to their loved one to avoid the censors. Basically SWALK for the randy. Did anyone really write NORWICH on the backs of envelopes, or is this apocryphal?
And why do we know nothing about possible retorts? We might even get an acronym that works (N for Knickers I ask you! Why can’t it stand for Nightie). For example, IPSWICH: “I Prefer Sex With Intelligent Cuddly Hunks”. Read the rest of this entry »

Solving time 31:34, but Chambers and Bradford’s used throughout. Either they’re getting easier, or I’m improving! Azed always used to take me at least an hour, even with all the solving aids. Maybe it was something to do with the environment – I solved this yesterday afternoon, sat out in the garden with a bottle of wine and a pile of crosswords. This week’s Araucaria double puzzle (which I found very tough and had to go and get ODQ), Times Cryptic and Jumbo and this month’s Guardian Genius, plus the Independent Cryptic and half the Inquisitor all succumbed before it started getting dark!

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Last regular Everyman blog…

Lots of dogs and a cat or two. None of whom hailed from Scotland as far as I could tell.

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Solving time: 11:50

Having seen the thematic cross-referencing I looked at, and solved, 17ac (TUBING) straight away, so should really have been quicker than this; slowness on two of the three long thematic answers was one reason, though these might also have caused trouble for anyone not familiar with the London Underground. One new word for me (FELDGRAU at 4dn).

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This was quite tough, and I had to give up after I’d done about 75% of it.  When I got home from work, I attaked the NW corner, and eventually finished after more than 45 minutes’ effort.  Some of the delay relates to trying to find the significance of the “1 across” in 16 ac.  Generally, the puzzle was fair, but I’d like a bit of explanation for 16 across if anyone else can provide it.

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Solving Time:  23 minutes

The usual demonstration from Phi that simple clear clue writing can be elegant and humorous – and a delight to solve.

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Solving time: c. 45 mins, no books, but one mistake found on checking answers

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Another very entertaining puzzle in a series that I’m already mightily impressed with, even though this is only the third one I’ve solved. Couple of queries: 5D and 22D, which I’m sure are right but I don’t understand all of the wordplay for them. Read the rest of this entry »

This was a very quick solve for me (8:47, since you asked) so I didn’t spot the (subtly done) theme until I had 2 or 3 answers to go in. I’ve mentioned all the thematic answers in the explanations below. Nice puzzle though, and a pleasant change from the tough stuff we usually get on a Saturday. Read the rest of this entry »