Azed 2106
A puzzle in the middle of the Azed scale of difficulty, with no particularly involved clue construction, but a few rather obscure references needing lookups in Chambers and elsewhere. As always, quality clueing … Read more >>
Andrew
Guardian 25,767 – Audreus
Nice to see one of Audreus’s rare appearances in the Monday slot (and we can confidently predict her son Shed for tomorrow). This was mostly easy going, with a striking number of clues … Read more >>
Guardian 25,763 – Gordius
A lot of very simple anagrams and some other clues that let me write in the answer almost without thinking made this a very quick solve, and not very satisfying. As often with … Read more >>
Guardian 25,758 – Orlando
The usual high-quality stuff from Orlando. Nothing particularly hard, but there are several definitions that are nicely tucked away in smooth surface readings. Across 1. REGULUS LUGER reversed … Read more >>
Guardian 25,753 – Araucaria
An enjoyable puzzle with a mini-theme that was up my street, making it mostly an easy stroll for me, except that I can’t fully explain the crucial 3,12 (though getting the answer was … Read more >>
Guardian 25,743 – Rufus
A very quick solve, even by Rufus standards, with the usual generous helping of double and cryptic definitions. Not much more to say really, apart from thanks to Flashling for standing in for … Read more >>
Azed 2100
I was wondering whether there might be some kind of special for this, as the first round(ish) number since 2000 and happening to coincide with a competition week, but it turned out to … Read more >>
Guardian 25,734 – Paul
I was pleased to see Paul’s name, as I always enjoy his puzzles. However the theme is not one of my strong points so I needed a bit of help… …the theme is … Read more >>
Guardian Genius 110 – Picaroon
As the instructions say: “All clues are normal [phew!]. Half of the 28 solutions must be turned round and entered in the grid backwards.” This meant filling in answers in pencil until their … Read more >>
Guardian 25,729 – Araucaria
Good fun (with a few niggles) from the Guardian’s premier setter. The key answer at 9dn was a write-in, giving away the theme of Prime Ministers (all of the recent ones back to … Read more >>
Guardian 25,719 – Rufus
Apologies for a blog that is both late and rather brief – I’ve been distracted by urgent work-related matters. Anyway, this is Rufus in his usual style, with lots of double and cryptic … Read more >>
Guardian 25,715 – Brummie
To my surprise it seems to be almost exactly two years since I last blogged a Brumnmie puzzle. I said then that “I always feel a little nervous when I see Brummie’s name … Read more >>
Guardian 25,710 – Gordius
Yesterday’s puzzle from Paul would be a hard act to follow for any setter, and Gordius (not one of my favourite setters, as regular readers will know) suffers in comparison. Most of this … Read more >>
Guardian 25,705 – Chifonie
After an interesting and challenging week of puzzles we are back to rather more standard territory today. This is very much in Chifonie’s style, with a lot of charades (ten of them) and … Read more >>
Azed 2094
An Azed from the easy end of the spectrum, with almost entirely straightforward clueing, that I finished off in one shortish session. I don’t usually record these kinds of statistics, but I found … Read more >>