Guardian

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 >>

dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram What a difference a week makes. Last … Read more >>

A welcome break from late night measure theory… pretty quick, with quite a few straightforward cryptic defs and anagrams. Across 1 ACCOLADE as in the conferring of knighthood, which involves “raising the subject … Read more >>

Solving time: 12:15 A very quick blog this week as I have run out of time. I enjoyed this puzzle, not too difficult with a few memorable clues. Two comedians were described as … Read more >>

It looks like another no-show so you will have to put up with me again. I’ve mixed views about this puzzle. Some clues I liked (eg 9a & 23d), some were too obvious, … Read more >>

An entertaining but quite tricky puzzle from Paul, with a lot of long answers spanning two positions in the grid and a fair amount of cross-referencing. The SW corner caused me the most … Read more >>

I enjoyed this but then I always enjoy Araucaria. Across 1 DROPLET: DR (debtor, one obligated) + OP (work) + LET (for hire) 9 ATHENAEUM: A + THE (articles) + anagram of A … Read more >>