Posted by ilancaron on 31st January 2008
Well-phrased wordplay and clues on the whole. I struggled with several, to my mind, esoteric refs (SQUEERS, OSBERT, TREVELYAN) but I’m sure someone better educated (in Britain!) than myself would not have been challenged.
Posted in Guardian | 9 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 31st January 2008
I found this a very tough puzzle, esp the lower half but also the long 20-letter phrase in the top half which was new to me. But I got there in the end and there were some excellent clues. Solving time, 61 mins.
Posted in Independent | 12 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 31st January 2008
A little harder than usual from Quixote, I found. Solving time, 31 mins.
Posted in Independent | No Comments »
Posted by Pete Maclean on 31st January 2008
A fairly routine puzzle from Mudd here. I completed it fairly quickly because I found the clues for the three long answers easy. Still, 11A and 5D took some puzzling over.
Posted in FT | No Comments »
Posted by linxit on 30th January 2008
Blimey, that was tough! It didn’t help that I’m nursing a hangover from last night (beer tasting event) but I think I’d have struggled anyway. Took about 45 minutes, but I had to use reference books to finish it.
Posted in Guardian | 11 Comments »
Posted by John on 30th January 2008
One of Dac’s easier puzzles I think, but none the worse for that. Consistently excellent clueing as usual. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 4 Comments »
Posted by Colin Blackburn on 29th January 2008
An absolutely superb Brendan. Many of the clues were outstanding, in fact the weaker ones were the thematic clues. The theme was a rambling one connecting John DONNE (10) and Ernest HEMINGWAY (14) starting from the ISLE OF MAN (9). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Guardian | 7 Comments »
Posted by neildubya on 29th January 2008
Another thematic tour-de-force from Virgilius; this time almost every clue or answer has a royal flavour to it. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 9 Comments »
Posted by michod on 28th January 2008
As Bob Marley used to sing, though I don’t think that’s what he put in his cylinders. That one at 8down’s my favourite cryptic definition in a mixed bag. Overall, though I think the best clues are the very economic charades/containers like 2dn, 17ac and 24ac, rather than the CDs and anagrams.
Posted in Guardian | 5 Comments »
Posted by NealH on 28th January 2008
Initially I thought this was going to be very easy. I got through most of the clues fairly quickly but then got hopelessly stuck on 8 across, 25 across and 24 down, some of which was self-inflicted because I’d incorrectly written “plot” for 2 down.
Posted in Independent | 6 Comments »
Posted by linxit on 27th January 2008
Solving time 47:10, with one clue left (which I eventually got while writing this blog entry).
Posted in Azed | 2 Comments »
Posted by rightback on 26th January 2008
Solving time: Gave up on 10ac and 7dn after 18 mins, with 9dn also wrong.
Posted in Guardian | 2 Comments »
Posted by petebiddlecombe on 26th January 2008
This post is a short guide to Independent and FT cryptic crosswords for those trying them out in their new free online forms. It’s particularly directed at any US-based solvers who haven’t seen these particular puzzles before. (It started out as a guide for the Indie ones, but then I remembered that the FT puzzles are currently available for free too. The information about FT puzzles is less detailed, as I’ve never been a regular FT solver myself.)
Posted in FT, Independent, Tips for solvers | 17 Comments »
Posted by tilsit on 25th January 2008
Pirouetting into sight today is Phi with a puzzle containing some well-known (and not so well-known) ballets.
Posted in Independent | 10 Comments »
Posted by michod on 25th January 2008
Easier than it looked at first glance. Some nice clues, with concise and convincing surfaces. One or two slightly loose definitions, but I guess you can put that down to 8down!
Posted in Guardian | 5 Comments »
Posted by neildubya on 25th January 2008
Having just blogged Nimrod’s Thursday puzzle (6637) I can say that I found this one the easier of the two. I’m not really a big fan of long anagrams and I was lucky to get the two here reasonably early on. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 3 Comments »
Posted by Hihoba on 25th January 2008
This was a corker!! I’m still not completely convinced that we’ve got it right, but here goes.
Posted in Inquisitor | 6 Comments »
Posted by smiffy on 25th January 2008
As one has come to expect from Bradman (or any other of his pseuDONyms), flawless technical merit receives a healthy dollop of creative/lateral thinking. ‘Twas ever thus, it seems.
Posted in FT | 1 Comment »
Posted by neildubya on 24th January 2008
Some clever grid construction here as one phrase appears twice in the grid and there’s a Nina too (see 5a below for an explanation). I found this quite hard going in places – I guessed a few answers and I couldn’t get 27a at all. I also don’t understand 28a. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 16 Comments »
Posted by neildubya on 24th January 2008
As previous discussed, I’m not a nature-boy, but ”False Acacia” seems a tad obscure - oh well, thanks for the Botany lesson, Brummie. Otherwise quite a blood-thirsty set of clues todays with some great wordplay.
Posted in Guardian | 8 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 24th January 2008
Some unusual words made this one a little harder for me than some recently from Quixote.
Posted in Independent | No Comments »
Posted by Pete Maclean on 24th January 2008
A moderately easy and thoroughly splendid offering from Cincinnus this week. It is a bit heavy on double-definition clues but there’s nothing wrong with that especially since only one of them is a plain and simple example; the others are decidedly clever.
Posted in FT | 3 Comments »
Posted by ilancaron on 23rd January 2008
A classic Paulene challenge though no Araucarian cross-refs nor complex multi-word anagrams. But still some charming and clever clues… as per usual I always feel entertained and gratified having solved Paul. Lots of clever cryptic definitions and allusions in the wordplay.
Posted in Guardian | 6 Comments »
Posted by neildubya on 23rd January 2008
Posted in Independent | 5 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 23rd January 2008
This had everything you could ask from a daily cryptic from this top setter. Excellent misdirection, great variety, and all with everyday words. Flawless construction. Solving time, 25 mins.
Posted in Independent | 5 Comments »