NealH

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def I got most of this done fairly quickly, but then got stuck on 1,2,10,17 and 21. Most of these involved obscure or unusual words. There … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def I had a torrid time with this. I missed the pub theme completely because I thought that 23 and 11 related to the answers in … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def An enjoyable puzzle which was just challenging enough for a Monday morning. The only one I didn’t follow was 20 down, which still doesn’t make … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def A fairly enjoyable crossword that was mostly straightforward, but had a couple of unusual words. Across 1 Debt: Bed< + t. Not sure the surface … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def Another very difficult puzzle by Tees. I couldn’t really get going until I looked up the Laurence Sterne wikipedia entry to find the answer to … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def Although I’m not a user of it, all the recent fuss over Twitter helped me get going with this puzzle. Once I’d got that, I … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def Some nice clues, but also one or two I thought were a bit hard to decipher (especially 16 across). Across 1 Pass round the hat: … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def It’s fairly unusual for me to blog a Phi puzzle because they normally occupy the Friday slot. He’s actually one of my favourite compilers, with a straightforward … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def A couple of rather loose definitions (laptop computer = means of communication ?) meant I found sections of this tricky. There was only one (15 down) I … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def I found this very hard-going. Spotting the symmetric anagrams around the perimeter of the gird earlier would have helped a lot. Across 1 Secret Agent: anag of … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def Some nice clues with one or two I didn’t entirely follow. Across 1 Hazard: Hard around AZ. 5 Banknote: >: Bank + note. Not sure that in … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def This was a puzzle of two halves for me. I flew through the left side of the grid but struggled for a while to get going with … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def My initial thought on seeing this puzzle was that the theme would be something like the Taming of the Shrew, so I set off with a mental … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def I found this a nicely balanced puzzle, challenging without being too difficult and having a good mix of clues. Across 1 Requiescat: (quiet acres)* – quite a … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def An enjoyable puzzle with nothing too difficult or controversial. I couldn’t see any obvious NINA. Across 9 Orchestra: I think this is just a CD relating to … Read more >>