Guardian

As usual, a tough but entertaining and clever puzzle from Enigmatist. I can’t parse a couple of them, I’m afraid, so please help out in the comments below if you understand them. (Resolved … Read more >>

My first blog for four weeks and so, first of all, many thanks to mhl and Gaufrid for standing in for me while I was, firstly, marking exam scripts and then away on … Read more >>

After a long break, Audreus seems to be becoming quite a regular again. This was a fairly typical example of her work – nothing too difficult, apart from an obscure meaning at 21dn, … Read more >>

Once again, I have been royally entertained and tantalised by The Master. He has woven such a rich tapestry of literary references that blogging this puzzle took many times what it took to … Read more >>

The usual bits and pieces from Rufus. A couple of o’er hasty entries slowed us down a bit, but overall this was much as one expects. ACROSS 7. FOR BORE ‘a tedious man’ … Read more >>

A gentler offering than usual for Araucaria, I thought, although some familiarity with Shakespeare’s The Tempest helped since several of its characters appeared as clue answers. There may well be further references that … Read more >>

I thought that this was going to be relatively easy today having entered quite a few answers during the first pass through the clues. However, the remainder of the puzzle proved problematic in … Read more >>

A second posthumous puzzle from Rover, and once again, sadly, not one that I can be enthusiastic about. 4dn stands out as a very nice clue, but the rest is rather 6dn, and … Read more >>

Found this pretty quick for a Chifonie, but well-clued as usual. 20ac made me smile and my only slight niggle was with the repetition of the “O” indicator in 9 and 13. Across … Read more >>

Brummie, like his alter ego, Cyclops, is always fun. Although his devices may sometimes be weird, risque and/or otherwise unusual, they are always very Ximenean and fair. This puzzle was very entertaining with … Read more >>

A very nice crossword, with Rufus’s usual wit and smooth surface readings. The only difficulty was one word (11a) that was unknown to me, and difficult to guess from the anagram fodder. Across … Read more >>

Solving time: Turned to a dictionary for 16dn after 15 mins This puzzle was themed around two men with similar names, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and their … Read more >>

Gordius seems to be getting easier – his Saturday prize puzzle a couple of weeks ago was pretty straightforward, and so was this, with a lot of rather obvious anagrams. As usual with … Read more >>

Morning campers! An enjoyable if none too taxing puzzle today. Our favourites for today were 17ac and 10d for their amusing surfaces. ACROSS 1. GO P HER 4. ICE S(HE)ET 9. NIC(H)E 10. … Read more >>

I found this tough compared to most of Paul’s puzzles – fun to solve, though. I’m afraid I don’t understand how 6 down works and I’m not sure about my explanation for 26, … Read more >>