Andrew

A typical Paul puzzle that was not easy but gave up its secrets at a satisfying rate, with a couple of bits of schoolboy humour in the mix. As usual Paul is hosting … Read more >>

Phew, that was hard, made harder by the rather unfriendly grid, though the split answer at 1,13 and the cross-reference between 6 and 17 helped a bit. I wasn’t sure of some parsings … Read more >>

Mostly very straightforward clueing from Brummie today, and a quick solve for me, though I was held up by the parsing of 11a. I was almost immediately tipped off to the theme by … Read more >>

Pasquale in gentle mood today, with almost no obscurities (for me, anyway: others may disagree). Mostly very straightforward clueing, with a couple of devices that have been round the block a few times. … Read more >>

I initially thought this was Carpathian’s debut in the Cryptic slot, but a little research showed me that I had in fact blogged her first such effort a few weeks ago. I can … Read more >>

After a brief slow start everything suddenly fell into place, and this ended up as a pretty quick solve. Good fun though: thanks to Tramp             Across 1. … Read more >>

Another top-quality puzzle from Nutmeg: a good range of difficulty in the clues, with some of the six double definitions (perhaps verging on the excessive side?) causing me the most trouble. There are … Read more >>

I think this is Matilda’s second appearance in the Cryptic slot, after a distinguished career as a Quiptic setter. I was the blogger of her first Cryptic, and remarked then that I found … Read more >>

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 >>