Posted by Andrew on 3rd September 2010
A very enjoyable puzzle from Araucaria, with some interestingly linked clues. Luckily I was familiar with most of the literary and other references, and found it not too hard. There were a few Araucarian liberties, which I’ve noted below, but not serious enough to detract from the fun.
Posted in Guardian | 40 Comments »
Posted by Handel on 2nd September 2010
An enjoyable and relatively quick solve for us this morning, with only the southwest corner troubling us.
Posted in Guardian | 27 Comments »
Posted by mhl on 1st September 2010
A fine puzzle from Brendan – as usual, a pleasure to write a post about. Another crossword that I wish I’d had more time to savour…
Posted in Guardian | 37 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 31st August 2010
Hurray! On the trot, I get to blog Paul, indeed a master craftsman who did not disappoint with his unique brand of teasing and tantalising clues, ranging from the obvious to the obscure; but all very solvable though challenging in places. Very enjoyable indeed.
Posted in Guardian | 37 Comments »
Posted by Eileen on 30th August 2010
A pleasant Bank Holiday diversion from Rufus, after Saturday’s tour-de-force from Araucaria, with several smiles along the way. Thank you, Rufus, and a happy holiday, everyone!
Posted in Guardian | 58 Comments »
Posted by rightback on 28th August 2010
Solving time: 8 mins
I found this the most enjoyable Araucaria I’ve done for a good while. The surface readings almost all made good sense and the cryptic indications were much more accurate and less padded out that usual. As so often, the two multi-word phrases might as well have been unclued as I left them at first and then built them up from the checking letters only, but at least their wordplays were accessible. My favourites were probably 13ac (EVIL) and 14ac (ORPHANAGES) but there were few I didn’t like in this.
Posted in Guardian | 16 Comments »
Posted by mhl on 26th August 2010
I’m afraid this a very rushed post for me today, and I haven’t figured out how 10a and 11a work – I’m sure the comments will clear those up, though…
Posted in Guardian | 47 Comments »
Posted by Eileen on 25th August 2010
There’s much to admire in this characteristically Puckish puzzle, which I found great fun and very enjoyable – a nice variety of clue types and some excellent surfaces: it would have been sycophantic to highlight them all! Many thanks, Puck.
Posted in Guardian | 75 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 24th August 2010
What a treat! For the second week running, I got to blog another master ( a reverential term of respect and admiration which really shouldn’t upset anyone). As expected, Paul served up many different and tricky devices to challenge and entertain us … and well, he did
Posted in Guardian | 38 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 23rd August 2010
Very easy fare from Rufus today, but lots of his characteristically smooth surface readings. A nice gentle start to the week – thanks Rufus..
Posted in Guardian | 32 Comments »
Posted by rightback on 21st August 2010
Solving time: 6 mins
A very entertaining offering from Paul, with a twist: several of the answers were rebuses or ‘dingbats’, where a phrase is represented in a kind of pictorial cryptic fashion, such as ‘Mandogger’ (= ‘dog in a manger’) or ‘Erif’ (= ‘Backfire’). These were fun to solve, although I think it would have taken me a long time to solve any of them ‘cold’ (i.e. without crossing letters) without some pointer that they weren’t normal cryptic clues; perhaps a very brief warning at the top of the puzzle might have been merited, although the rest of the puzzle was accessible enough that it was solvable without, especially given that the thematic answers were all multi-word phrases. There were also some very good normal clues in this.
Posted in Guardian | 38 Comments »
Posted by mhl on 20th August 2010
I’m a big fan of Pasquale’s puzzles, but today was just one of those days when I was completely hopeless – I found this very difficult, ran out of time and so had to cheat on lots of these before writing the post. The cryptic readings of all the clues are quite clear and they’re fairly clued, just with plenty of references (and a few words) that I didn’t know. Some very nice clues in here, anyway – I hope others found this less challenging!
Posted in Guardian | 77 Comments »
Posted by Eileen on 19th August 2010
It’s rather surprising to have two posthumous puzzles in a row: Rover died in May this year. This is a typical ‘mixed bag’ of a Rover puzzle – some good clues interspersed with some rather dubious or weak cryptic definitions. There’s a rather dated feel to this puzzle, in both clues and answers.
Posted in Guardian | 48 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 18th August 2010
As usual with Quantum, I am sadly unable to summon up much enthusiasm for this puzzle. Some reasonable clues, though nothing very exciting, but also some rather weak cryptic definitions, and a couple of technical niggles.
Posted in Guardian | 47 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 17th August 2010
Another wonderful way to start the day, solving the Master who, as usual, tantalised and teased. Like all compilers, he would gladly that we all see throught his runic ruses and devious devices. My, am I in an almost alliterative mood today?
Posted in Guardian | 58 Comments »
Posted by Handel on 16th August 2010
A Monday and no Rufus! A good mixture of clues from Logodaedalus made this an enjoyable start to the week, and there were no naval references to throw us, which made a change. The top left hand corner was the last to go in, and we took longer than we should have done on the longer clues around the edge of the grid. One unresolved clue: 25ac.
Posted in Guardian | 47 Comments »
Posted by rightback on 14th August 2010
Solving time: Don’t know (clock stopped while solving), but at least 15 mins by the time I concluded that I didn’t know the word at 13ac; 25ac and 15dn also wrong.
Posted in Guardian | 44 Comments »
Posted by Eileen on 13th August 2010
Well, aren’t I lucky, on a day when I might have expected not to be, to land one of my top favourite setters? This is a typically first-class puzzle from Crucible, with nothing to frighten triskaidekaphobes, unless I’m missing something. I’m not in the least superstitious but, when blogging, we have to be on constant look-out and Crucible is known for his themes!
Posted in Guardian | 57 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 12th August 2010
I always feel a little nervous when I see Brummie’s name on a puzzle, and indeed it took me a while to get going with it, but it was not too hard overall, with the downs seeming a little easier than the acrosses. There seems to be a bit of a theme going on – to avoid giving the game away I’ll mention it at the end of the blog.
Posted in Guardian | 43 Comments »
Posted by manehi on 11th August 2010
I’m not a huge fan of grids such as this where the long clues can somewhat spoil the fun if you get them early or lock you out of a corner if you don’t. Favourite clues were 15ac and 6dn.
Posted in Guardian | 45 Comments »
Posted by Uncle Yap on 10th August 2010
Today’s offering from Gordius is not too complicated if you know a lot of not-so-well-known names as Gordius name-dropped left, right and centre. Without access to Google, I do not think I would be able to complete the puzzle as some of these names are not known to me.
Posted in Guardian | 60 Comments »
Posted by mhl on 9th August 2010
A fun puzzle from Rufus, with lots of anagrams and cryptic definitions.
Posted in Guardian | 42 Comments »
Posted by rightback on 7th August 2010
Solving time: 12 mins
Pasquale is one of the most Ximenean of The Guardian’s setters (i.e. his clues generally make good cryptic sense) which usually means a fast solve. This wasn’t the case here, though – the clues were tricky and I didn’t know any of the four thematic answers, all of whom (Google tells me) were former Masters of the King’s Music. I don’t know whether there is any additional connection between these four men in particular.
Posted in Guardian | 37 Comments »
Posted by Andrew on 6th August 2010
Pretty easy-going stuff from Chifonie here, with several rather obvious anagrams to get started with. It was enjoyable enough, though with nothing much to grab the attention, except I thought the surface reading of 9d was amusing. A couple of bugbears of mine have raised their heads in 19ac and 28ac.
Posted in Guardian | 62 Comments »