Andrew

Quite a tricky one from Pasquale today, with a few obscurities and some tricky parsings. Thanks to Pasquale for the chewy challenge.   Across 9 ELAN VITAL Supposed creative force that could make … Read more >>

A gentle Tramp to lead us into November, with the SW corner holding me up longest, and two excellent long anagrams – something of a trademark for this setter. Many thanks to Tramp. … Read more >>

Mostly straightforward Monday fare, with one or two trickier moments, and a couple of words that might be unfamiliar to some. Thanks to Vulcan.   Across 1 FLIPPED ONE’S LID Got enraged by … Read more >>

I was a little slow to get started on this, but then everything started slipping nicely into place. Thanks to Philistine. We have a mini-theme of words derived from the names of planets, … Read more >>

I seemed to be very much on Brummie’s wavelength this morning and got through this pretty quickly. No theme that I can see, but you never know… Thanks to Brummie.   Across 1 … Read more >>

This is Soup’s first (solo) appearance in the Cryptic slot, though we have seen him a few times in the Genius. This was quite tricky, with some rather unusual constructions, including a couple … Read more >>

I was slow to get started on this, with only about five answers entered after my first pass through the clue, but gradually it all fell satisfyingly into place. Thanks to Philistine.   … Read more >>

Eileen has been having some IT problems that have prevented her publishing her blog today, so I’m doing so on her behalf. As perhaps wasn’t clear from my wording, the blog is written … Read more >>

I’ve just come back from a holiday in the Highlands, and as expected have to thank Eileen and Manehi for standing in for me. What I didn’t expect was to be blogging on … Read more >>

Mostly straightforward solving today, though there’s a title I didn’t know, and one clue I can’t explain. Thanks to Imogen. Some commenters on the Guardian site claim to have found a theme, but … Read more >>