Guardian

After three days of relatively undemanding puzzles,  I wasn’t sure what to expect today but was very pleased to see Brendan’s name on this one.  As usual, I had the momentary dread of … Read more >>

Mostly very straightforward clueing from Araucaria, with just a bit of deviousness at 27ac and a mini-theme linked to 5dn. Unusually, there are no full anagram clues at all, just small partial anagrams … Read more >>

After a string of masterly and challenging puzzles, today I had a very light sentence, very much like chiffon, light and easy. Should be a breeze for most regulars here. ACROSS 1,5 LETTER … Read more >>

From today, there is a slight change to the Guardian blogger team, with a three week cycle for most bloggers, except Uncle Yap who continues as a Tuesday regular. I’ve blogged quite a … Read more >>

Solving time: 12 mins The last 3 minutes of this, at least, were on 6dn (CHATELAINE) which I found much the hardest clue, although if I’d solved this a month ago it would … Read more >>

I’ve had a soft spot for Orlando since my first blog, which was a very enjoyable crossword of his, and I always enjoy his more frequent Cincinnus puzzles in the FT. Today he … Read more >>

A moderately tricky Araucaria with some interestingly linked clues and a lot of amusement as always. There are also quite a few of his characteristic liberties, which I’ve noted in the comments below. … Read more >>

Enjoyable puzzle today with nothing too difficult and a cute mini-theme. Across 1 TIEBACK TIE=”match” + BACK=”second” 5,8 NUCLEAR REACTION “He commonly”=>’E + EQUALS EMCEE SQUARED, which describes the mass-energy equivalence demonstrated by … Read more >>

A very challenging puzzle from another Master which took me an hour to crack, helped by furious references to on-line sources for words and things I have never heard of before until today. … Read more >>

Sorry for the very late post – I’ve been a bit overwhelmed today, and only just got a chance to rush out this post. Apologies for any errors or omissions… Across 1. PROPELLOR … Read more >>

Solving time: 23 mins, one mistake (1dn) This tough puzzle was a mix of good and bad, with some really clever wordplay devices and elegant surfaces intermingled with clues for which the cryptic … Read more >>

I can repeat almost verbatim the remarks I made about the Auster puzzle that I blogged last week: we haven’t seen Logodaedalus for a while, and this was a very easy puzzle with … Read more >>