Andrew's avatarAndrew

I started off on Everyman in The Observer, and began solving Azed while I was a student at Cambridge (reading maths) shortly after it started. I do the Guardian puzzle most days and others sporadically. In real life I work as a software developer (still in Cambridge), and for non-crossword recreation play the piano and am involved in amateur theatre.

Guardian 27,309 – Qaos

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I found this a strange mixture: some very easy “beginner” clues (and a couple of rather vague/weak cryptic definitions), and others that I struggled over for ages, including one unknown word that even … Read more >>

Guardian 27,302 – Nutmeg

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Characteristic elegant and witty clueing from Nutmeg today. I don’t usually pay a lot of attention to surface readings, but there are some good ones here: hardly anything that “could only be a … Read more >>

Guardian 27,295 – Chifonie

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Typically straightforward clueing from Chifonie, though two names might be unfamiliar to some. As I said about Pan’s puzzle last week, pleasant enough but not very exciting. Thanks to Chifonie.       … Read more >>

Guardian 27,288 – Pan

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Mostly very straightforward clueing from Pan (who is a recent addition to the cryptic slot, after many years of setting Quiptics), with only 7d causing me any difficulty in parsing. Pleasant enough, if … Read more >>

Guardian 27,281 – Rufus

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Only three cryptic definitions today, and three doubles (or possibly 4+2). With mostly straightforward constructions in the other clues, I got through this very quickly, Thanks to Rufus           … Read more >>

Azed 2357

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In contrast to my usual method of solving Azed over Sunday breakfast, I did this one intermittently while on a walking holiday on Scotland, so it’s hard to tell how its difficulty compares … Read more >>

Guardian 27,251 – Rufus

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“Only” five cryptic definitions from Rufus today (a couple of them barely qualifying as cryptic), but a lot of anagrams, which made this a very quick solve for me. Thanks to Rufus.   … Read more >>

Guardian 27,249 – Maskarade

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It was a surprise to see Maskarade’s name today, as he has previously only mostly appeared as a setter of bank holiday specials… … but the reason soon became clear, as the letters … Read more >>

Azed 2351

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There seems to be a higher-than-usual proportion of unfamiliar words in this puzzle, but despite that I managed to finish it quite quickly without aids (though a couple of my plausible guesses turned … Read more >>