Posted by Gaufrid on 30th September 2009
A generally straightforward puzzle today with accurate cluing in most instances though 11a was a little misleading in that ‘grain’ needed to provide ‘crop’ and ’store’ ’silo’ whereas a silo is a grain store.
Posted in FT | No Comments »
Posted by mhl on 30th September 2009
Excellent stuff from Paul today; we made steady progress through this last night and completed it without having to look anything up, so I think the difficulty’s about right. My particular favourite is MORGAN FREEMAN but there are lots of satisfying clues.
Posted in Guardian | 21 Comments »
Posted by John on 30th September 2009
Smooth and neat as always from Dac. The naturalness of his clues never ceases to amaze me. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 8 Comments »
Posted by Agentzero on 29th September 2009
The usual collection of clean and interesting clues from Neo. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in FT | 5 Comments »
Posted by Ali on 29th September 2009
Definitely one of the toughest Punks we have had for a while I thought, but wonderfully inventive clueing as we’ve come to expect. 14/18 is up there with my favourites of 2009!
Posted in Independent | 3 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 29th September 2009
dd = double definition
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram
Posted in Guardian | 30 Comments »
Posted by Ciaran McNulty on 28th September 2009
An exemplary Monday puzzle – no odd constructions but still enough to exercise the grey matter on the commute.
Posted in Guardian | 13 Comments »
Posted by NealH on 28th September 2009
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 4 Comments »
Posted by beermagnet on 28th September 2009
Number 400 Eh!
We only get 26 issues of this esteemed organ each year – if we’re lucky – so I reckon that’s 16 years that Cyclops has been working at the sharp end of scurrilous crossword setting. So I will wish him well and say “Well done” to the old toe-rag. Here’s to the next 400.
Posted in Private Eye/Cyclops | 8 Comments »
Posted by Gaufrid on 27th September 2009
Please do not refer to, or comment on, a prize puzzle until after the closing date for entries.
Posted in Announcements | No Comments »
Posted by Arthur on 27th September 2009
I didn’t really like this one. It’s unfortunate that IOUs was used in a clue to 14 ac and a solution to 2dn. I can’t properly parse 1dn, 16dn is a dreadful clue neither being a proper &lit or having any definition and I’m not sure why ground is “g” in 21dn or golf is “g” in 11ac except the words begin with the letter – surely there must be a common use of it as an abbreviation for it to be allowed. I’d love anyone to enlighten me on these points! “May cause” is a pretty poor anagram indicator in 14ac meaning you really have to rely on counting letters and realising there are 15 of them which is far from satisfying. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Everyman | 3 Comments »
Posted by petebiddlecombe on 27th September 2009
The preamble said that “The twelve unclued answers (a complete set) have something in common”, andwere given their unchecked (and mutually checked) letters.
Posted in Azed | 4 Comments »
Posted by petebiddlecombe on 26th September 2009
This was as tough for me as the first couple of Tyrus puzzles I tried in the Independent. I don’t have an accurate timing for it but would guess about 45 minutes until I decided to cheat on 5D. The bottom unches spell out SIMONE, but apart from a well-known Simone being called Nina, as indicated by 1D’s clue. The top edge gives Nina NANNAR – the media and arts correspondent for ITV News. I thik that’s all – I could find no well-known Nina Cameron or Nina Susan to go with them from other edge answers = “fringe characters”.
Posted in Independent | 2 Comments »
Posted by Simon Harris on 26th September 2009
I should probably blog these a bit sooner after solving, or at least take notes, since I have scant recollection of actually tackling this one. I do know that I once again managed it armed only with the hard copy of Chambers, and that this method seems to suit me well.
Posted in Beelzebub | No Comments »
Posted by Dave Hennings on 26th September 2009
Luckily for me, a fairly straightforward offering from Kcit this week. I got back from golfing hols on Sunday, and everything has bunched up nicely, including some crosswords that need solving and blogging … oh, and some real work too, which is nice. So no time for a treatise on this occasion.
Posted in Enigmatic Variations | 2 Comments »
Posted by rightback on 26th September 2009
Solving time: 7 mins
This was my fastest solve of a Saturday puzzle for a while, so must have been easier than usual, even for a non-Araucaria week. Only 20dn (REMARK) caused any real trouble.
Posted in Guardian | 7 Comments »
Posted by John on 25th September 2009
This seemed unusually difficult for Phi and one clue completely defeated me. There are a few I’m not sure about, which will I’m sure be rapidly explained here. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 7 Comments »
Posted by Eileen on 25th September 2009
I found this quite tough going, both solving and parsing, and was pleased to have finished without recourse to the ‘cheat’ button – but irritated to have been completely beaten by the explanation of one clue. There were several penny-dropping moments along the way.
Posted in Guardian | 48 Comments »
Posted by kenmac on 25th September 2009
Posted in Inquisitor | 7 Comments »
Posted by smiffy on 24th September 2009
This was probably my most rapid completion of a Cinephile puzzle in donkey’s years. Unfortunately, I ended up guessing incorrectly at 4D so I can’t claim a correct solution! Plenty of double definition clues in the mix today.
Posted in FT | 4 Comments »
Posted by Ali on 24th September 2009
A nice, tough puzzle from Nestor with some lovely clues. I have to admit I struggled with the NW and SW corners though and there are a few I don’t understand even after resorting to help!
Posted in Independent | 6 Comments »
Posted by mhl on 24th September 2009
We enjoyed this and just missed out 8 down, so it’s probably a good difficulty level for a daily puzzle. I particularly liked the surface readings of 9a, 10a, 3d and 12a. Update: thanks to Bryan for pointing out the theme, which I stupidly missed: WEST SIDE STORY is in the answers, along with the gangs (the JETS the SHARKS) and several songs (TONIGHT, MARIA, AMERICA, SOMEWHERE)
Posted in Guardian | 12 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 24th September 2009
Posted in Independent | 3 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 24th September 2009
Monday Prize Crossword on 14 September 2009
dd = double definition
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram
Posted in FT | No Comments »
