Once I had dug out the answer to 1A, this puzzle gave me little trouble. Gordius comes up with several ingenious misdirections, and a smile at 24A; but there are also some clues (10A, 13A, 17A) where he seems to be waving his arms about furiously to indicate the answer. I submitted this blog first to Gaufrid, who had a few useful comments; my thanks to him.
PeterO
Guardian Cryptic N° 25,401 by Rufus
A gentle outing, even by the standards of Rufus, despite a couple of definitions that were new to me.
Quiptic N° 613 by Arachne
Several of the clues required some thought to work out the wordplay; in all this Quiptic took me longer to solve than today’s Rufus.
Guardian Nº 25,387 by Paul
The first time I have had a Paul to blog, and it did not disappoint, unless perhaps by being over too quickly – good for the blog if not for savouring the challenge.
Quiptic Nº 609 by Hectence
Some convoluted wordplays, and numerous liberties make this quite different from most other Quiptics, although I found that the answers came readily. Perhaps it should be regarded as an introduction to Araucarian style.
Everyman N° 3,380 (July 10)
A fine offering from Everyman, abounding in smooth surfaces, a good variety of clue types and no outlandishly convoluted wordplays.
Guardian Cryptic N° 25,368 by Gordius
A straightforward but pleasing offering from Gordius.
Guardian Quiptic Nº 605 by Arachne
Another Arachne quiptic for me to blog, which suits me very well; her clues are elegant and smoothly surfaced. There are a few general knowledge references which may not be so general, but … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic Nº 25,349 by Orlando: A tall story
This time a title is in order, since tales are plastered all over the clues. Enjoyable, with some fine surfaces and a few convoluted wordplays. Across 1. Far from gayest sort of sodomite? … Read more >>
Everyman Nº 3,374 (29 May)
I found this distinctly easier than last week’s Everyman, with mostly simple wordplays, which should help if the range of your general knowledge does not coincide with the compiler’s. Across 1. Win and … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic No 601 by Moley
A Quiptic setter new to me, she hits the entry level spot on, with varied clue types, and nothing too convoluted. Across 4. Large flag for an Egyptian god (6) OSIRIS Charade of … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic No 25,329 by Rufus
I found this easier than some recent Rufuses; not too heavy on the cryptic definitions (which I regard as a plus), but making up for it in the envelope department – if not … Read more >>
Guardian No 25,320 by Brendan
An entertaining offering from Brendan. … … … … The appearance of envelopes in almost every clue must be a theme of sorts; then there is the device indicated in 13A, for which … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic No. 25,315 by Chifonie
Very definitely plain sailing, and none the worse for that. Across 1. French town’s brochure revised? Good! (9) CHERBOURG Charade of CHERBOUR, an anagram (‘revised’) of ‘brochure’ + G (‘good’). 6. Make sense … Read more >>
Everyman crossword No 3,368
This did not strike me as a top-notch Everyman. There are several simple charades where the answer is two words (or one word articulating naturally into two parts), and the wordplay just defines … Read more >>