michod

A gentle start to the week as ever. Most of the clues are pretty straightforward, so I’ve only given a few explanations – more can be supplied on request. Across: 1. GRAFTS. Double … Read more >>

ACROSS: 4. JAM PAN. A guess now confirmed – it’s a kind of sedan chair. 9. BRIE(f). More familiar as a cheese than a place. 11. STATIN (patients* – pe). Complicated wordplay here, … Read more >>

Not for the first time, I did the crossword, checked the site for the blog, then remembered it was my day! Volcanoes the theme here, six of them, all in the acrosses. Good … Read more >>

Brummie seems to be becoming more regular, which is generally to be welcomed, though I don’t think this is one of his best, and several long clues seem to me to fall into the NCD (not cryptic … Read more >>

Just a quick post to get the ball rolling as I’m in a training course all day. Not sure why we have the treat of a Paul on a Monday – is Rufus … Read more >>

It could be the toothache – I might have been more charitable if I’d waited for the co-codamol to take effect – but I found myself being rather picky today.  There are some nice touches here, … Read more >>

Across: 1. F(L)AB BY. Liver’s heading is L, and times is BY, (as in 15 by 15) which took me a moment to spot. 4. MUSCAT. I feel conviced there are half a dozen other possible … Read more >>

Good stuff – one of two 3 downs for me in the other downs, but lots of decent clues too.   ACROSS: 9.  DER RING DO. Very nice – Bayreuth made me think Wagner … Read more >>

A decent Friday puzzle with some tough nuts to crack. One name I’d never come across before, and required Google’s help, some humorous touches, and a little linked mini-theme including two phrases, one … Read more >>

The title refers to a French rococo painter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Honor%C3%A9_Fragonard) whose name I eventually guessed once I had all the letters. But I did find this one pretty tough, and I don’t think it was just my … Read more >>

Despite some complex wordplay, I found this less difficult than the average Araucaria (a relief after yesterday’s Pasquale, where I failed on four clues). The theme is the 19th century Tory PM Disraeli, so … Read more >>

 It was mostly quite easy, but with a fiendish top right corner that held me up for ages, and I messed up on two clues early on, which didn’t help. Only finished properly … Read more >>

My favourite clues combine Rufus’s trademark cryptic definitions with wordplay, so as to keep you guessing for longer – 5 and 11 across require unravelling, whereas 17 across couldn’t be anything else. ACROSS: … Read more >>

Apologies for late posting. I’ve been off work, but looking after my 11-month old niece who has asthma and chicken-pox, which didn’t seem to leave much time for blogging – now I remember … Read more >>

A pretty straightforward puzzle, by and large, which took me about 15 minutes. The long answer at 1, 26 across was vaguely familiar, but felt a tad obscure – is it a common enough … Read more >>