Andrew

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 25,695 – Rufus

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A fairly standard Rufus, though with (I think) a larger helping than usual of anagrams, especially the three long acrosses. These should give a good start to the puzzle for those who sometimes … Read more >>

Guardian 25,691 – Qaos

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This is Qaos’s fourth weekday puzzle since his debut in January this year. I actually solved and blogged this last night, then found I’d written a rather grumpy blog and decided to sleep … Read more >>

Guardian 25,681 – Chifonie

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This felt a bit harder than a typical Chifonie, as if the clue structures were rather more involved than usual, though looking down the list of explanations there’s actually nothing very complicated. There … Read more >>

Guardian 25,671 – Rufus

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I found this hard than average for Rufus, mainly because the structure of many of the clues (which is usually completely straightforward) is very well hidden in a smooth surface reading. I have … Read more >>

Guardian 25,667 – Paul

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I was worried when my first pass though the clues yielded only a couple of answers, but persistence gradually paid off. The usual variety of witty clueing from Paul, though with none of … Read more >>

Azed 2088

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I found this pretty hard for a plain Azed, with an above-average number of unfamiliar words. I got 10dn and 35ac early on, and found myself working up to the top left corner … Read more >>

Guardian 25,662 – Chifonie

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Typically straightforward clueing from Chifonie, with lots of charades and anagrams. The last couple in the bottom right corner held me up at the end because of unhelpful crossing letters, but otherwise it … Read more >>

Guardian 25,638 – Picaroon

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A second outing for new setter Picaroon (first seen on 16th March), and another entertaining puzzle. He/she seems to have a rather distinctive style, but I can’t quite put my finger on exactly … Read more >>

Azed 2082

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This was very much a puzzle of two halves for me. I rattled off the left-hand side very quickly, helped by the easy anagram-based clues at 1ac and 1dn, but then stalled somewhat … Read more >>

Guardian 25,619 – Gordius

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Another rather horrible grid, with four semi-isolated quadrants. There were a couple of these last week, where the setters had helpfully split some answers around the quadrants. No such luck here, but instead … Read more >>