Guardian

The usual excellent Monday crossword from Rufus – a few somewhat tricky clues, I thought, and lovely surface readings throughout. I hope everyone had an excellent Christmas. (I’m afraid I won’t be able … Read more >>

Some typical Araucaria fare today which resulted in quite a few ticks on my copy of the puzzle (1ac, 13ac, 3dn, 8dn and 15dn had the largest ones). I struggled trying to parse … Read more >>

This is the fourth crossword by Crucible for the Guardian, as far as I can tell. (This setter more frequently appears as Radian in the Independent.) There are plenty of clever (and tricky … Read more >>

A  puzzle unremarkable except for some very obscure (defined as when I have to google long and hard) references to William Shakespeare’s Last Will & Testament (http://home.att.net/~mleary/shakwill.htm) and also the position of the … Read more >>

A delightful festive offering from Rufus – something of a tour de force – which is not too taxing but provides a few smiles, or even chuckles, along the way. Across 1   RECIPES: … Read more >>

Solving time: 12 mins I have to take my hat off to Shed for this: most of the puzzle was straightforward (and well-clued) but three answers (MORTAR, SCARFACE and CRIMEA) had me truly … Read more >>

diagacht has web access problems today but has supplied the following analysis without a preamble. Across 8 CALABASH: A LAB (a little dog) in CASH (rhino) 9 HARTE: ART in HE (not sure … Read more >>

Quite a tough puzzle today, I thought, with a few words I wasn’t familiar with – these were all quite guessable from the clues though. Across 1. PESTERED P = “Penny” + (STEERED)* … Read more >>

A fun puzzle from Paul – not one of his more difficult ones [more than the usual quota of straight charades, I think] – with an entertaining theme. Some nice clues, as usual … Read more >>

What a fantastic puzzle this turned out to be. A dash of risque, some fun with numbers and a potpourri of some creative and clever devices and the whole thing, extremely entertaining. One … Read more >>

I’m short of time today, so apologies for a brief blog. Either this was harder than a typical Rufus, or I just wasn’t on his wavelength. Some of the cryptic definitions seemed a … Read more >>

Solving time: 13 mins When I first looked at this I saw the long multi-word phrases and groaned. In fact one of them (LITTLE BO-PEEP) was obvious and the rest of the clues … Read more >>

An enjoyable puzzle today, with nothing too difficult apart from the reference in 11 across, I thought. Across 1. POTHERB PB = “Lead” around OTHER = “different” 9. TRURO TRU[nk] RO[ad] 10. ANNOYANCE … Read more >>

I think we could call this a typical Araucaria puzzle, so I will say no more here. 🙂 Across 1   SPOKEN: POKE in SN [opposites] 5   GATSBY: GATS [guns] + BY [at … Read more >>

You wait for ages for a Brummie, and then two come along almost at once – this one and the latest Genius puzzle. This was somehow a bit easier than it appeared to … Read more >>