manehi

Not as tricky as Orlando can be, but some lovely cluing – I particularly liked 24ac, 3dn, 16dn and 18dn. Across 1 Everyone in drag is fat (6) TALLOW =”fat”. ALL=”Everyone” in TOW=”drag” … Read more >>

Found this very tricky, but lots of fun with a spooky theme. Favourites were 23a, 26a and 16d. Still not sure how to parse 3d. Across 1,15 Long odds of tango and cha-cha … Read more >>

Enjoyable without being too tricky, with a nice mini-theme. Favourite clues were 11ac, 18ac and 9dn. Across 1 A sailor lacking refinement said to get some military training (7,6) ASSAULT COURSE =”some military … Read more >>

Found this fun, but struggled towards the end – I had to guess and look up 1ac and 10ac, and am pretty sure that I’m missing something about 19ac. Favourites were 12ac, 7dn … Read more >>

Rufus with a typical mix of double and cryptic definitions. I liked 10ac and 6dn in particular. Across 7 Army command to be rigidly obeyed (9) ATTENTION Cryptic def – a command to … Read more >>

Enjoyable but not too difficult from Paul today. I liked the two long across clues, as well as 1dn and 6dn. Across 1 In a word, very long joke is in a sense … Read more >>

Relatively easy, but beautifully clued from Paul. I particularly liked 1ac, 11ac, 21ac, 27ac and 15dn. Across 1 Delivery man at the door (7) BOUNCER =”Delivery” in cricket; =”man at the door” 5 … Read more >>

Not too difficult today, but all very well and fairly clued. I liked 9ac and especially 13dn. Across 1 What tennis players may be doing in the forces (7) SERVING Double def. =”What … Read more >>

Tough, but not as impossible as it seemed on the first run through. Had to use Google to parse 23dn. Some very nice cluing, my favourites were 10ac, 19/20ac and 6dn. Across 9 … Read more >>

All very pleasant and straightforward from Rufus today. My favourites were 19ac and 3dn. Across 1 Tyrannise work force (7) OPPRESS =”Tyrannise”. OP=”work” plus PRESS=”force” 5 Mature pine lasting many years (3-4) AGE-LONG … Read more >>

Tough, but excellent puzzle on a topical theme. Plenty of clever clues and surfaces, and I groaned aloud at 1dn. [There is a thematic nina around the edge of the grid, going clockwise.] … Read more >>

A little gentler than usual from Pasquale, but very enjoyable – I really liked 11ac, 23ac and 10dn. Across 1 Severely punish, making someone accept work forcibly? (5,3,4,2) THROW THE BOOK AT Literally … Read more >>

Got quite stuck several times, mostly in the NW corner, but really enjoyed this. Favourites were 17ac and 19dn. Across 1 Tree dweller’s westbound US ruffle work (6) POSSUM =”Tree dweller”. reversal=”westbound”, of … Read more >>

This took three sittings, even after guessing at the theme from the wordplay of 10ac early in my second attempt. 5ac, 16dn and 21dn were unfamiliar but gettable in the end. Favourites 11ac … Read more >>

Good fun from Paul today, though not too difficult as once I figured out the theme there were quite a few write-ins. Theme: L is the first letter of Labour, or the “Labour … Read more >>