Andrew

Tricky stuff from Imogen today: after what felt like a good start, including the two helpful long downs, I ground to a halt, and finished the puzzle at a much slower pace. No … Read more >>

I found this a bit harder than usual for Vulcan, probably because of the large (some might say excessive) number of double definition clues. There are also several that I’ve labelled as “double/cryptic … Read more >>

A nice chewy puzzle from Tramp today, where everything is completely clear if you only read the clues in the right way. Very enjoyable: thanks to Tramp             … Read more >>

Quite a tricky one, as usual with Boatman, not helped by the unfriendly grid, with its almost isolated four sub-grids. There seems to be a bit of a theme of modern (usually business-related) … Read more >>

I found this quite easy by Imogen’s standards, with the two long downs going in quickly and providing lots of helpful letters. A few slight obscurities, but all helpfully clued. No theme that … Read more >>

Well, that was fun. An obvious theme of years in the clues, some of them actually being other things in disguise. Inevitably heavy on general knowledge, which some people may not like, but … Read more >>

My previous Monday blog was of Matilda’s first Cryptic, and now Carpathian makes the same step up from the Quiptic. This puzzle could easily have been a Quiptic, with lots of helpful anagrams … Read more >>

I was half-expecting a Paul puzzle today, but having Qaos instead was no hardship. I found this one quite straightforward, with only one parsing holding me up. There’s a theme of ARCHBISHOPs of … Read more >>

A strong week of Guardian puzzles continues with another great offering from Picaroon. The four long down answers in this grid are either a big help if you can solve them early on, … Read more >>

Qaos has a tendency to be somewhat “liberal” with his cryptic grammar at times. I don’t usually complain about this, but there seems to be rather more of it than usual here, with … Read more >>

Matilda is familiar as a setter of Quiptics, but I think this is her first appearance in the cryptic spot. This was an enjoyable but brief diversion as another long day of confinement … Read more >>

Another quickie from Vulcan, with what felt like a lot of anagrams and the usual smattering of cryptic definitions. Thanks to Vulcan.             Across 1. LEGIBLE On stage, … Read more >>