Guardian

I haven’t much to say about this puzzle. There is nothing contentious, I think, but, for me, no ‘ahas’ or smiles, either, and too many charades, my least favourite type of clue. Across … Read more >>

Another mixed bag of goodies from Gordius with many standard devices and some not-so-standard devices like 10A and 19D. Quite challenging overall and entertaining in parts – don’t we all snicker after solving … Read more >>

The usual gentle start to the week with Rufus. There are only five cryptic definitions in this puzzle, which I think is less than the average, though I was fooled for a while … Read more >>

Solving time: Fail. The theme here was American states, of which there are an impressive 12 in the grid (plus references to more in the clues), but this was easy to spot and … Read more >>

Lots to enjoy in this crossword, I thought – in particular some good anagrams. I think it should have all been pretty straightforward, except for perhaps 19 across (which I really liked, though) … Read more >>

I consider myself very fortunate in drawing this one, as I blogged the last Brendan. There’s the usual witty and clever cluing and enough cross-reference to add interest, without making it too easy. … Read more >>

I found it very hard to get started on this one, but getting 3dn, swiftly followed by 15dn, and most of the linked answers, filled up a lot of the grid, and the … Read more >>

A delightful potpourri of various cryptic devices to brighten up a Tuesday morning. Not too difficult and quite entertaining, too. ACROSS 1 RUSSIA LEATHER RUSSIA (country) LEA (meadow) THERE minus E ; a … Read more >>

Many congratulations to Rufus on this his 1,000th puzzle! Across 1 THEBES: almost THE BES(t) 5 SET ASIDE: SEASIDE around T (end of augus(T)) 9 DEMERARA: anagram of RARE and MADE 10 OTTAWA: … Read more >>

Solving time: 14 mins I don’t think I’ve ever finished a crossword having understood so few of the solutions! It took me at least as long again to fathom them all out. As … Read more >>

A quite quick second appearance  for  Bonxie this year,  considering we had only four of his / her puzzles last year [thanks, Andrew!]. There was nothing too taxing – some ingenious clues and … Read more >>

Quite a tough one from Paul, with some characteristic humour. I don’t fully understand 1 across, and I have some niggles about a couple of other clues.           Across … Read more >>

Maybe it’s the time of night, but I found this quite a slow solve for a Quantum and got held up in a few places despite the long clues falling early. A few … Read more >>

A mixed bag from Gordius. Some excellent clues, somewhat spoiled by a couple of mediocre ones. ACROSS 1 SEPTIC TANKS Ins of TANK (reservoir) in *(cesspit) Nice surface 9 NOISOME Ins of OM … Read more >>