Enigmatic Variations No. 1303: Who’s Who by Gaston
I think this is my first blog of a Gaston EV, although I have solved a few over the years. (S)he made it into the WHO’S WHO of setters celebrated in the recent … Read more >>
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Guardian Genius 172 by Chandler
‘Chandler’ is a new name to me, and not obviously present on this site or the inter-web generally, so either a debutant(e?) or yet another collaboration of existing setters… The preamble states that: … Read more >>
Independent 9692 by Anax (Saturday Puzzle 4 November 2017)
A challenging puzzle from Anax this week…with some clever cross-references, silky surface readings and a bit of mirthful misdirection… After a bit of a flying start from letting my eye roam straight to 23D … Read more >>
Cyclops 610 – Florid Tycoon
The usual mix of excellent surface readings, political targets at home and across the water, and a lower-than-usual reading on the Smut-ometer from Cyclops this fortnight… An impressive, if maybe sub-Araucarian and even sub-Paulesque, … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1299: Vicious Circle by Raffles
‘Only’ thirty clues (with a quotation round the perimeter), so surely VICIOUS CIRCLE is an EV blogger’s delight? But I found it hard to get going at first, although I squared the circle in … Read more >>
Cyclops 608 – Backstabbing Party
It is political conference season (in the UK), and Cyclops has highlighted a few pertinent aspects – without naming too many names… …BACKSTABBING, WANNABE, PSYCHOBABBLE, (political) ROOTS, – and presumably nothing actually gets AGREED. … Read more >>
Independent 9662 by Klingsor (Saturday Puzzle 30 September 2017)
A solid, but maybe fairly un-challenging, puzzle from Klingsor today – not sure it would have passed 1D as a Saturday Prize puzzle in days of yore…some nice presentation, in terms of surface … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1295: Circuit Diagram by Granville
It must be 30-plus years since I last drew a CIRCUIT DIAGRAM, in ‘O’ and ‘A’ level physics, so this offering from Granville (a new setter on the scene?) had me thinking OMG … Read more >>
Cyclops 606 – Mess With Railway
Is Cyclops showing solidarity with all those commuters struggling into and out of London this August, with various stations affected by ‘improvement’ works in the quieter holiday month?… Certainly Trump seems to have … Read more >>
Independent 9632 by Maize (Saturday Puzzle 26 August 2017)
I had the pleasure of blogging Maize’s (debut?) Independent 9392 back in November last year, which turned out to be a quadruple pangram! What could be in store for us this time?… …well, in the … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1291: Full Disclosure by Piccadilly
FULL DISCLOSURE is not something we get too much these days, in the age of ‘fake news’ and spin doctors…what is Piccadilly going to disclose to us?… The preamble states that: “The wordplay … Read more >>
Cyclops 604 – Covfefe, and what not…
Ronald T Dump continues to provide clue-fodder for Cyclops, although there are some finely-tuned closer-to-home barbs as well this fortnight… We start at 1A with COVFEFE – ‘a word from Trump’…did he fall … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1287: Go For It! by Kruger
Well, on the scale of ‘Fifty Shades of EV’, this was a masochistic 40-plus for your correspondent…Kruger exhorted us to ‘GO FOR IT!’, but I staggered across the line like a marathon runner … Read more >>
Independent 9602 by Quaiteaux (Saturday Puzzle 22 July 2017)
A rare appearance from Quaiteaux – an unfamiliar setter to me and, judging by a trawl through this site, a first Indy puzzle since November 2015..so welcome back! An enjoyable, eclectic(?) mix – a Greek letter, modern-day … Read more >>
Cyclops 602 – Neer-do-well Tory
A higher-than-average(?) number of anagrams (full, or partial) and some nicely-surfaced double definitions in this fortnight’s Cyclops, with ‘Strong’ and ‘Stable’ making appearances in a clue, after being an answer last time round… Some … Read more >>