Archive

For me, one aspect of a good clue is when I struggle to solve it and then wonder why afterwards because it seems so obvious and there was no shortage of such occurrences … Read more >>

The closing date for Beelzebub was postponed until today for the obvious festive reasons, hence the delayed blog post. I don’t have a great deal of notes as it’s been a fairly long … Read more >>

Unlike the last Beelzebub that I blogged, I found this one a little tricky (meiosis!) in places, particularly the SE corner which contained my last entries. The crossing 28ac and 24dn caused a … Read more >>

A much tougher week than the last one I blogged, I thought. To the extent that I’m still unable to complete the puzzle as I cobble together a blog post. 33 across and … Read more >>

A relatively quick solve for me this week with everything done and dusted within about half an hour. Does this mean that the puzzle was easier than usual or just that I had … Read more >>

Well I never, it’s amazing what being stuck on train with nothing else to concentrate on can do. This was my first unaided finish in quite some time, though I’ll admit there were … Read more >>

A good mixture for me; some new words, some that had to be dragged out of the deeper recesses of my mind and a few easy entries to keep the grid fill ticking … Read more >>

Very few scribbles on the magazine this week, suggesting relatively smooth sailing. I did get held up in the top right for a bit, not helping myself by being convinced 14 across would … Read more >>

I found this rather easy by Beelzebub standards because there were many straightforward clues to common words and even the more obscure entries were readily determined from the clear and simple wordplay. . … Read more >>

I don’t know whether the Lord of the Flies is wreaking his terrible vengeance upon us after Gaufrid recently accused his crosswords of being a bit too easy, but that’s two blog days … Read more >>

This one was over rather quickly but I cannot explain why, it’s not as if there are no obscure words or complex wordplay in it. Perhaps I was just on song because around … Read more >>

Crikey. If anyone has been thinking Beelzebub has been getting easier recently they were in for a shock today. Or at least, I was. You probably breezed through it, but after a reasonably … Read more >>

I enjoyed this one, my only gripe being that it was over far too quickly. One thing that struck me, particularly whilst writing this post, was the smoothness and relevance of some of the … Read more >>

Quite a tough week, I thought, but perhaps that’s because I was under time pressure to finish before going away this week. I’ve not done a great job of explaining things either, with … Read more >>

No double or cryptic definitions today but that is not unusual for a Beelzebub puzzle. There was the customary hidden, and a handful or so of anagrams, but I do seem to have … Read more >>