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 25,363 / Boatman

Fri July 1, 2011 at 7:24 am by duncanshiell

I have written this blog fairly early as I will be travelling for most of the day. If the wi-fi on East Coast Mainline works well, I should be able to read comments … Read more >>

Inquisitor 1181: Repetitive Practice by Charybdis

Wed June 22, 2011 at 9:18 pmWed June 22, 2011 at 2:00 am by duncanshiell

The preamble stated that unchecked letters of the 10 unclued grid entries, including mutual crossing letters, spell CELIBATE BEDTIME WEEK. The unclued entries could be described by 13 contiguous cells (3,6,4) which extend … Read more >>

Inquisitor 1177: Problem by Phi

Wed May 25, 2011 at 2:00 am by duncanshiell

Another puzzle, another preamble that has me wondering ‘What?’ on the first run through. In the end though it all made sense. This was a wonderful puzzle which took a couple of days … Read more >>

Guardian 25,326 / Araucaria

Thu May 19, 2011 at 12:18 pmThu May 19, 2011 at 9:24 am by duncanshiell

This was another eclectic offering from Araucaria, with its mix of literary allusions, foreign language, science and geography, all interwoven with the main theme. We were told that the four entries were unoficially … Read more >>

Independent 7650 / Nimrod – Saturday Prize Puzzle 23 April 2011

Sat April 30, 2011 at 10:04 amSat April 30, 2011 at 2:18 am by duncanshiell

Nimrod is one of the most prolific compilers at the moment, under a variety of pseudonyms. He is also Enigmatist in the Guardian, Io in the Financial Times and Elgar in the Daily … Read more >>

Inquisitor 1173: Not Fare by Lato

Wed April 27, 2011 at 2:10 am by duncanshiell

This puzzle had a preamble that I had to read a few times before I really understood it, and even then the whole thing didn’t make complete sense until I had completed the … Read more >>

Guardian 25,305 / Rufus

Mon April 25, 2011 at 7:59 amMon April 25, 2011 at 7:17 am by duncanshiell

As I am double booked with another commitment early this morning, I was a bit worried that Easter Monday was going to produce a Guardian humdinger with a double grid and a complex … Read more >>

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 >>