Posted by Gaufrid on 23rd December 2009
I don’t remember Cincinnus appearing on a Wednesday before. Fortunately this was one of his easier puzzles as I am very short of time due to an emergency appointment at the dentist before he closes for Christmas. Please excuse any errors or typos caused by my haste.
Posted in FT | 1 Comment »
Posted by mhl on 23rd December 2009
This is the fourth crossword by Crucible for the Guardian, as far as I can tell. (This setter more frequently appears as Radian in the Independent.) There are plenty of clever (and tricky to parse!) clues here – overall tough but satisfying, I thought. Merry Christmas to everyone ☃
Posted in Guardian | 34 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 23rd December 2009
Monday Prize Crossword on 14 December 2009 As always, a gentle start to the FT week with clues none too difficult
Posted in FT | No Comments »
Posted by Gaufrid on 22nd December 2009
Apologies yet again for a late post. It appears that the scheduled substitute has not been able blog today so I am stepping in as second-sub. Nothing too difficult in this one and nothing with which to take issue. The surfaces were generally good and I rather liked some of the concise clues, particularly 18ac, 1dn and 21dn.
Posted in FT | 1 Comment »
Posted by Ali on 22nd December 2009
I had a quick look at this online late last night and managed to solve a few clues on a first read-through, so I didn’t think it would be too much trouble when I got on the bus this morning.
Posted in Independent | 7 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 22nd December 2009
A puzzle unremarkable except for some very obscure (defined as when I have to google long and hard) references to William Shakespeare’s Last Will & Testament (http://home.att.net/~mleary/shakwill.htm) and also the position of the altar from Medieval History at http://historymedren.about.com/od/aentries/a/11_altars_4.htm (which, incidentally, I would not have bothered but for the fact that I have to at least appear knowledgeable when blogging this puzzle). Some snippets of gems sprinkled all over but not enough to erase the less-than-satisfactory flavour from this setter’s apparent fondness for the abstruse
Posted in Guardian | 32 Comments »
Posted by Pete Maclean on 22nd December 2009
Posted in FT | 6 Comments »
Posted by NealH on 21st December 2009
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 9 Comments »
Posted by Eileen on 21st December 2009
A delightful festive offering from Rufus – something of a tour de force – which is not too taxing but provides a few smiles, or even chuckles, along the way.
Posted in Guardian | 21 Comments »
Posted by beermagnet on 21st December 2009
As It Occurred To Me this week: I won 2nd prize in a contest!
You’re right, it wasn’t a Beauty Contest and I wasn’t playing Monopoly.
It was a crossword contest: The 2009 “3D Calendar puzzle” indeed.
So I have no hesitation, in best Smashy’n'Nicey “does a lotta work for chariddy” manner, in shamelessly plugging next year’s offering.
Follow these links and Buy! Buy! Buy!
Posted in Private Eye/Cyclops | 6 Comments »
Posted by Simon Harris on 20th December 2009
This was easily the toughest Beelzebub I can remember having come across. A first, unaided session yielded only three or four answers. Reinforcements were called in, and the remainder of the puzzle took two of us several hours. In a couple of places, entries seem to differ from anything I could find in Chambers, but I may simply not have been looking hard enough.
Posted in Beelzebub | No Comments »
Posted by jetdoc on 20th December 2009
An Azed of average difficulty this week, I think; I needed a dictionary to check several answers. The words ‘whample’ and ‘sprangle’ were both delightful discoveries. No clue stands out as favourite of the week, but I’ll give my vote to 10a.
Posted in Azed | 3 Comments »
Posted by C G Rishikesh on 19th December 2009
I am here as a substitute for the regular blogger. The crossword posed no difficulty but I am unable to explain Clue 16d fully. Season’s Greetings to all readers.
Posted in Everyman | 2 Comments »
Posted by Gaufrid on 19th December 2009
I would like to say thank you to the Fifteensquared team members who have all taken time out of their busy schedules to post blogs during the past twelve months. I’m sure your efforts have been much appreciated, particularly by those new or relatively new to cryptic puzzles.
Posted in Announcements | 28 Comments »
Posted by rightback on 19th December 2009
Solving time: 12 mins
I have to take my hat off to Shed for this: most of the puzzle was straightforward (and well-clued) but three answers (MORTAR, SCARFACE and CRIMEA) had me truly stumped and accounted for well over half of my time. Moreover, none was in any way obscure or unfair and I kicked myself as I finally solved each.
Posted in Guardian | 15 Comments »
Posted by Dave Hennings on 19th December 2009
I have no idea what the title means, although it does sound a bit like a Swedish clothing company … or is that Hennes & Mauritz?
Posted in Enigmatic Variations | 3 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 18th December 2009
No Phi today, maybe he’ll feature on Saturday this week. Instead what I found quite a tough puzzle from Morph esp SE corner. I failed on 24 across, which I understand now having looked at the Indy website. Time at the puzzle, 50 mins or so.
Posted in Independent | 8 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 18th December 2009
A nice puzzle that started comfortably but posed some difficulty at the end, with 6A taking up the max. time and I’m still not sure if it’s right. I enjoyed solving on the whole, but with a few nitpicks mentioned against the answers.
Posted in FT | 2 Comments »
Posted by diagacht on 18th December 2009
diagacht has web access problems today but has supplied the following analysis without a preamble. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Guardian | 28 Comments »
Posted by duncanshiell on 18th December 2009
Phi is one of the more prolific setters with his puzzles appearing in a wide range of publications. There is always something different about his puzzles and this was no exception.
Posted in Inquisitor | 6 Comments »
Posted by petebiddlecombe on 17th December 2009
Solving time: about 45 late night minutes
Mass has usually been a very difficult setter for me – never quite sure why. I was going to say that this has a lot of drugs and at least a couple of doctors. I now see that every single clue has at least a medical surface meaning, if not a medical answer as well. A good example of what I remember Mass saying to me the only time I ever met him (c. 1991). His description of the setting process was “realisation of ideas, lad”. Well there must have been quite a lot of work to realise this idea. The unusual indicators and partial homophones made it difficult, but I think it’s well worth it overall.
Posted in Independent | 3 Comments »
Posted by Ali on 17th December 2009
Apologies for the brevity/lateness here. Work Xmas party last night, so I solved this one with a belting hangover on the bus 2 hours late for work and am still playing catch-up.
Posted in Independent | 6 Comments »
Posted by smiffy on 17th December 2009
A bit of a doddle today, but with some fun elements – and a few items that piqued my quibblesome side this morning.
Posted in FT | No Comments »
Posted by mhl on 17th December 2009
Quite a tough puzzle today, I thought, with a few words I wasn’t familiar with – these were all quite guessable from the clues though.
Posted in Guardian | 26 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 17th December 2009
Posted in Independent | No Comments »
