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 24,532/Orlando

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Quite a gentle one today after Brendan’s toughie on Monday, and maybe it suffers in comparison to Paul’s Beatlefest yesterday, but some nice clues here, though as ever I have a couple of … Read more >>

Guardian 24,524/Rufus

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No difficulties here, apart from the ones I made for myself by initially guessing SUBSTITUTE for 3dn. A nice gentle start to the week from Rufus. Key: dd = double definition cd = … Read more >>

Guardian 24,522/Quantum

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I’m a bit pushed for time this morning so apologies for the rather brief comments. A mixed bag today, I thought – nothing terribly exciting, and a few cryptic definitions that I thought … Read more >>

Guardian 24,508/Boatman

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Boatman is a name I’m not familiar with – maybe a new addition to the Guardian stable? As a result I had no idea what to expect from this puzzle, but it turned … Read more >>

Guardian 24,500/Rufus

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I found this harder than the average Rufus, with the SE corner (especially the 24s) causing some delays. Key: dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition * = anagram < = reverse … Read more >>

Guardian 24,490/Araucaria

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I’d only just finished Araucaria’s Saturday puzzle, which I found very hard, so I was a bit apprehensive when I saw his name again. Fortunately this one was a lot less troublesome, though … Read more >>

Guardian 24,483/Gordius

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It’s my first day back in the office after a week-and-a-bit’s holiday, so a large backlog of emails has somewhat delayed my blogging. A lot of obscure words and references, combined with some … Read more >>

Guardian 24,476/Rufus

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A straightforward Rufus for Bank Holiday Monday. A couple of nice cryptic definitions, and a couple more I’m not so keen on. Key: dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition * = … Read more >>

Guardian 24,474/Gordius

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I don’t much like this grid, with its four almost-isolated corners. Luckily there were enough easyish clues in each corner to get me going, though the SE corner held me up for a … Read more >>

Guardian 244,67/Araucaria

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Yet another very enjoyable offering from Araucaria. I got 25/26ac immediately and the various types of pear followed quickly. Several clues involved bits of what is perhaps slightly obscure general knowledge (e.g. 18ac, … Read more >>

Azed 1,888 – Printer’s Devilry

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Printer’s Devilry puzzles are an interesting and enjoyable change that Azed produces from time to time. I thought we’d had one fairly recently – it turns out I was thinking of the 2007 … Read more >>