duncanshiell

Born in 1948. I retired from full-time work in May 2007, after 37 years with Ordnance Survey and associated bodies and now have time to devote to crosswords, something not available for many years. Product of 17 years in the Scottish education system, but lived overseas or in southern England for virtually all of the time thereafter. I moved back to Scotland in 2010. Regular road runner and recently returned to orienteering and golf after a 35 year gap. Developed interested in cryptic crosswords in the mid 1960s (Scotsman, Sunday Express skeleton), but working overseas and then raising a family, meant dropping out of crossword solving for about 30 years. Now a regular solver of Times, Guardian, Independent, Inquisitor, Listener and Magpie crosswords. Reasonably regular finisher of the first four. Started blogging in late 2007. Any solving ability far outweighs any clueing ability. Krypton Factor contestant 1983; eliminated in the first round, but the obstacle course finish made good television!

Guardian 25,291 / Araucaria

Fri April 8, 2011 at 8:59 am by duncanshiell

This was quite a struggle from start to finish, but there were, as usual, a few ‘doh!’ and ‘how clever!’ moments as I battled my way through it. I think therefore that this … Read more >>

Guardian Genius 93 by Paul

Sun April 3, 2011 at 10:06 amSun April 3, 2011 at 6:30 am by duncanshiell

In the preamble we were told that seven clues require ill-advised exchanges before solutions are entered in the grid. The resulting solutions are non-words. In these seven clues, the definitions (indicated by the … Read more >>

Inquisitor 1169: Tribute by Kruger

Wed March 30, 2011 at 12:10 am by duncanshiell

The preamble told us that just over half of the clues contain a superfluous word. The first letters of these, in clue order, spell out a tribute. The subject of this, its creators … Read more >>

Independent 7620 by Nimrod – Saturday Prize Puzzle 19 March 2011

Sat March 26, 2011 at 12:01 am by duncanshiell

I was able to fill the grid on the Saturday the puzzle appeared but this was a puzzle that I kept returning to during the week, mainly to try and understand the wordplay … Read more >>

Guardian 25,272 / Brummie

Thu March 17, 2011 at 9:41 am by duncanshiell

This took me some time as I was fixated on a number of wrong answers for some time. For example at 17 down I was convinced that I should take M … Read more >>

Inquisitor 1165: A Favourite Poem by Phi

Wed March 2, 2011 at 12:05 am by duncanshiell

The preamble stated that the puzzle is based on of Phi’s favourite poems. The poem features a recurrent phrase, which explains the entry of one normally clued answser. The phrase is connected in … Read more >>

Guardian 25,253 / Araucaria

Wed February 23, 2011 at 10:16 amWed February 23, 2011 at 9:27 am by duncanshiell

This struck me as a typical Araucaria crossword with lots of cross-referencing between clues, lots of misdirection, a few words that many people do not use in everyday language, and one or two clues … Read more >>

Independent Saturday Prize Puzzle 7590 / Scorpion – 12 February 2011

Sat February 19, 2011 at 12:05 am by duncanshiell

A quick glance at the clues for this puzzle showed that the solution to 8 Across was going to be important as five other clues made reference to it. In fact, the five … Read more >>

Inquisitor 1161 – Nicknames by Ifor – Saturday 23rd January 2011

Wed February 2, 2011 at 12:10 am by duncanshiell

Ifor is a new compiler for the Inquisitor but he has had four crosswords published in The Magpie and one published in the Telegraph Enigmatic Variations series, all in the last two years. I … Read more >>

Guardian 25,233 / Rufus

Mon January 31, 2011 at 8:17 am by duncanshiell

This was a fairly standard puzzle from Rufus that will no doubt divide the solving community along the usual lines. As ever, from Rufus, there were a number of clues based on cryptic … Read more >>

Independent 7574 / Mordred

Tue January 25, 2011 at 10:55 am by duncanshiell

I’m an emergency stand-in today, so apologies for the slight delay in posting. I’m not a regular daily Independent solver – I tend to get The Independent on Saturday for the Inquisitor (which … Read more >>

Independent 7560 by Bannsider (Saturday Prize Puzzle 8 January 2011)

Sat January 15, 2011 at 12:05 am by duncanshiell

Another very satisfying crossword from Bannsider. As usual the wordplay is very precise, even although it takes me a while to work it all out. The entry that took me the longest time … Read more >>

Guardian 25,219 / Brendan

Fri January 14, 2011 at 9:34 amFri January 14, 2011 at 8:29 am by duncanshiell

Seeing the word KING in every across clue made me think back to Bonxie’s rather difficult puzzle of last week when LEFT began all the Down clues and four of the Across clues. … Read more >>

Inquisitor 1157 – Please… by Eddie – 18 December 2010

Wed January 5, 2011 at 9:41 amWed January 5, 2011 at 12:01 am by duncanshiell

The preamble stated that the first words of a traditional verse are spelled out by single extra letters generated by the wordplay in each down clue, in order. The perimeter (clockwise, in which … Read more >>

Guardian 25201 / Araucaria

Thu December 23, 2010 at 9:24 amThu December 23, 2010 at 8:46 am by duncanshiell

I like to work though all the clues first to see how many I can solve cold. As the first clue I solved in this puzzle was 25d, I thought this was going … Read more >>