Posted by ilancaron on 31st January 2010
As per usual a wordplay or two which I’m not sure of. Somewhat harder than my last Azed outing (1958). And a surprised groan or two were elicited (Azed isn’t the most humorous setter in my opinion usually).
Across Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Azed | 13 Comments »
Posted by Arthur on 31st January 2010
Not my favourite ever – 11ac is a recent, but not very popular television show which I think is perhaps a little unfair. Also, the way that I parse is, 13dn requires BRAIN as a synonym for SUPPORT which I can’t quite figure . Any suggestions welcomed! EDIT – thanks anax for clearing this one up. My other complaint is that there were rather a lot of double definitions and some clues that hardly seemed crytic at all. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Everyman | 9 Comments »
Posted by Dave Hennings on 30th January 2010
A puzzle entitled Eggheads in this month’s Magpie (January 2010) and French Polish in last week’s Inquisitor (#1108, 09/01/2010) are Nutmeg’s most recent offerings, and here we are with Prime Suspect.
Posted in Enigmatic Variations | 2 Comments »
Posted by rightback on 30th January 2010
Solving time: Best part of a week before using references for 4ac and 1dn.
Posted in Guardian | 20 Comments »
Posted by Simon Harris on 29th January 2010
A good week, I think. This took me several sessions, but I was determined not to cheat. Everything was ultimately solvable, though 1ac was unfamiliar enough to require some undirected Chambers-browsing on my part.
Posted in Beelzebub | No Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 29th January 2010
I enjoyed this puzzle a lot, very tough and very satisfying to finish, with all understood, and some very well constructed clues, as one expects from Phi. Solving time, 40 mins.
Posted in Independent | 25 Comments »
Posted by Eileen on 29th January 2010
Well, for me, the week’s ending, as it began, on a high note, with a welcome appearance by Enigmatist. There were some lovely clues, as we would expect, but one or two that I can’t quite make to work and there is one that has me completely foxed. No doubt there’s someone waiting to enlighten me!
Posted in Guardian | 59 Comments »
Posted by Hihoba on 29th January 2010
As usual with a Schadenfreude offering there were a lot of unfamiliar words – LYTTA, DONAT, PACHALIC and NITID to name but four! The clues were scupulously fair, though one of them has defeated us for total understanding (see 38D), and we have slight reservations about SET-TOS – the hyphen held us up for a while. A couple of surnames too – Orbison and Calder. I (Hi) now use the internet for all this kind of lookup, so am unaware whether they appear in biographical dictionaries. I have to admit that without computer aids I would not have managed to complete this puzzle. Anyone who did has my admiration!
Posted in Inquisitor | 6 Comments »
Posted by shuchi on 29th January 2010
A very good puzzle, I thought. Smooth surfaces throughout, and nothing too obscure other than one look-up I needed for 11a.
Posted in FT | 3 Comments »
Posted by duncanshiell on 29th January 2010
This is the first puzzle by Dac that I have blogged. I didn’t find anything too difficult. I’m not sure how long this took as I did it whilst watching Saturday afternoon football programmes on the box.
Posted in Independent | 3 Comments »
Posted by smiffy on 28th January 2010
A new(ish?) setter - Styx seems to be very fastidious about the surface reading of the clues, as these are universally “natural” and concise. However, this flawlessness is almost to a fault in places, where the wordplay (e.g. 18A, 22A) or difficulty (11A, 23A, 6D) ends up slightly compromised as a result. So (with an eye to the Winter Olympics just around the corner) I’d score this as 5.9 for Style and 5.4 for Technical Merit.
Posted in FT | 6 Comments »
Posted by Ali on 28th January 2010
We haven’t had many Tyrus puzzles, but he is for my money by far the hardest setter on the Indy team. I spent an hour tackling this online last night and managed to solve all but 10 clues. I was very pleased with that, but I then spent a further 50 mins on the bus with it this morning and got absolutely no further! So, in the interests of there actually being a blog, I’ve had to resort to the Reveal button.
Posted in Independent | 13 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 28th January 2010
As regular readers will know, I (and others) am not a big fan of Gordius, and while there’s nothing particularly inspiring in this puzzle, I didn’t find much to object to either, apart from a few minor niggles noted below.
Posted in Guardian | 26 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 28th January 2010
Something to look out for here, referred to after the clue explanations. Solving time, 21 mins.
Posted in Independent | 2 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 28th January 2010
Monday Prize Crossword on 18 January 2010
Another easy introduction to the FT week. This puzzle has a wide variety of devices and would be ideal training ground for newbies.
Posted in FT | 3 Comments »
Posted by Pete Maclean on 28th January 2010
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 16
I found this puzzle a good bit harder than the average Cincinnus, especially the top-right corner. I got 5A and 7D quickly but the rest of that section took a while. I particularly like 1D, 5D and 21D.
Posted in FT | 2 Comments »
Posted by manehi on 27th January 2010
Got through this one fairly quickly. Noticed on writing it up that the charade pieces for 11ac were all recycled from other clues…
Posted in Guardian | 35 Comments »
Posted by Gaufrid on 27th January 2010
An enjoyable solve today. We were told that the answers to asterisked clues had something in common. Fortunately I had come across 13dn in a previous puzzle otherwise I might have had a problem with this particular asterisked clue.
Posted in FT | 11 Comments »
Posted by John on 27th January 2010
The usual lovely thing from Dac. There’s really very little to say because everything fits so well and the clues are almost all clearly-constructed and faultless. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 14 Comments »
Posted by Simon Harris on 26th January 2010
This was fun – a very thoroughly-themed and enjoyable puzzle from Virgilius. Whilst not unduly taxing on the whole, I imagine this one will be popular with readers. For my own part, I’ll admit to stumbling in the NE corner.
Posted in Independent | 13 Comments »
Posted by Agentzero on 26th January 2010
I enjoyed solving this puzzle but when it came to writing the blog I realized there were several clues that I wasn’t quite happy with, as noted below. That said, I thought there were also a number of deft clues in the puzzle.
Posted in FT | 1 Comment »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 26th January 2010
A fair-to-middling kind of offering from Paul with some challenging clues as well as some that raised a smile or two especially those cheeky descriptions such as item containing white in 20D. My favourite device was call reception in 8D. Paul never fails to amuse and titillate.
Posted in Guardian | 36 Comments »
Posted by mhl on 25th January 2010
A very quick post today, so please accept my apologies for any errors or omissions. It probably goes without saying, given the setter, but this is great stuff – lovely surface readings, fair clues IMO and there’s a nice theme. Quite a few hidden answers compared to normal, but I’m not sure if there’s any pattern there.
Posted in Guardian | 39 Comments »
Posted by NealH on 25th January 2010
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 8 Comments »
Posted by The Trafites on 24th January 2010
Lorraine: Had trouble getting going on this one as I was poorly with flu, good old Nick jumped in to save the day though.
Posted in Everyman | 4 Comments »