Guardian

Struggled quite a bit with the top right corner until 17 dropped. Enjoyable puzzle overall. Across 1 FITFUL FIT + FUL[l] 4 TRIPOS rev( PI[ous] inside SORT=”class”) 10 HEAR TELL OF H[ard] + … Read more >>

What a lot of goodies, including hard-boiled eggs, all found on one plate. Medieval tales, English slang, British television trivia, etc. Thank goodness for Wikipedia, without which I would not have been able … Read more >>

A very mixed bag from Rover, though mostly very easy. There were a few clues that I liked, but a lot of rather weak or dubious cryptic definitions, and various other niggles. There’s … Read more >>

Solving time: 25 mins, 2 missing (11ac, 2dn) After blitzing the bottom half of this I thought I was on for a very fast time but then came to a grinding halt. ROACH … Read more >>

My limited knowledge of a certain group of people and the works of one its members was exercised by Brendan today in a typically clever and enjoyable puzzle, with just one slight weakness … Read more >>

Second last time out I had Puck also. No surprise then to find some tricky wordplay. I enjoyed this once I got going but I had the feeling this could have been a … Read more >>

A fair but rather tricky puzzle for a week day, largely due to a few obscure or archaic words. There’s a nice set of “reversed clues” where the answer might clue some words … Read more >>

Quite a heavy-going and stodgy offering from Gordius with some strange words and weird constructions; some which escaped me. The one shining and lustrous pearl of the morning was  that superb cryptic definition, … Read more >>

I found this more straightforward than last week’s Rufus but, I thought, rather  lacking in the expected sparkle. There are the usual fine surfaces but some rather tired wordplay, including AD = notice … Read more >>

Solving time: 65 mins, 4 missing (DUNCIAD, CINERARIA, LEDUM, JONQUIL) This was hard, and time constraints forced me to give up with four gaps although for a long time I thought it would … Read more >>

It’s been a good while since I last tackled an Audreus. Sped through without too much difficulty. Edits thanks to Brian and Gaufrid Across 8 DINOSAUR (around is)* 9 OPENER double def: “First … Read more >>

Annoyingly, I had to write this post without any internet access or reference books, so there are lots of guesses here that normally I would be able to quickly confirm. I may not … Read more >>

If there had been no name on this puzzle, I think it would not have taken regular solvers long to supply one. All the Pauline hallmarks are here: cheeky surfaces and / or … Read more >>

I found this puzzle very much like last week’s Gordius. Challenging and interspersed with some witty and humorous definition. Definitely an enjoyable and delightful solve. ACROSS 1 BOLIVIA B (bachelor) Olivia (girl) 5 … Read more >>

Somehow I found parts of this harder than usual with Rufus, though on looking back there’s nothing particularly tricky. Unusually there are only two pure cryptic definitions here; less unusually a smattering of … Read more >>