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 26,822 – Qaos

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Good fun from Qaos today (despite a couple of niggles). His puzzles usually have a hidden theme of some kind: I can’t see anything in this one, but I may well have missed … Read more >>

Guardian 26,815 – Philistine

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A very satisfying puzzle from Philistine today, with lots of clues that seemed impenetrable at first but gradually yielded, including a few where the letters of the answer literally appear in the clue, … Read more >>

Azed 2280

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I couldn’t find my original copy when I came to write this, so have solved the puzzle twice. Of course it was a bit easier the second time round, but (as far as … Read more >>

Guardian 26,808 – Vlad

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Once again the crossword has not (yet) been published properly on the Guardian website, though fortunately for me the PDF version is available here. After that difficulty, I had to struggle with Vlad, … Read more >>

Guardian 26,799 – Screw

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This puzzle has still not been published on the Guardian site – I’ve been hanging back hoping it would appear, but no joy yet. There’s a pdf version here, but, as the setter … Read more >>

Guardian 26,792 – Paul

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A few of today’s clues seem to have escaped from the Quiptic, but there were a couple of others whose parsing took a while to sort out. Lots of references to dances of … Read more >>

Azed 2274

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A gentle start to the Azed year: I don’t time myself, but I think I finished this (apart from checking a couple of stragglers in Chambers) in less than half an hour. As … Read more >>

Guardian 26,771 – Rufus

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If Rufus has made any New Year’s resolutions, then “use fewer cryptic definitions” clearly isn’t one of them. Seven here (and four doubles), several of which I find pretty weak. Still, I know … Read more >>

Guardian 26,763 – Paul

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Lots of Christmassy references in the clues from Paul today, and not too hard a puzzle for those who have a lot of other things to do. Thanks to Paul, and Merry Christmas … Read more >>

Guardian 26,756 – Picaroon

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A typically high-quality puzzle from Picaroon today, with no theme (as far as I can see at this time in the morning) though a lot of reversals in the clues. Thanks to Picaroon … Read more >>