Guardian

An interesting Paul puzzle today with some tricks up its sleeve. Across 1. WARM-UP.  WAR(MU)P.  Mu is a greek character, so used in the Cyclades. 5. ERRANTRY. E.R. + RAN + TRY. 9. … Read more >>

A very enjoyable puzzle from Orlando, difficult enough to be a challenge but nothing outrageous. There are several nice clues where an anagram is cleverly concealed by the surface reading, Key: dd = … Read more >>

Pretty easy today, especially the very straightforward double definitions. Still enjoyable, and 25ac and 17dn made me smile. Across 9 CARGO SHIP O=”nothing” in (graphics)* 10 SIMON rev(IS) + MON[day] 11 INVALID double … Read more >>

dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram Quite an interesting puzzle with some varied … Read more >>

Another easy Rufus, with the usual crop of cryptic definitions, one or two of which I think are a bit lacking. Key: dd = double definition dd = cryptic definition * = anagram … Read more >>

Solving time: 14 mins The bottom left here took me as long as the rest of the puzzle. There was a birdy theme alluded to by 1ac (ORNITHOLOGIST), with MACAW and SWIFT appearing … Read more >>

A nice challenge from Araucaria today, with almost entirely Ximenean clueing. I was particularly pleased to be able get the Shakespearian references in 1ac and 9ac without assistance. Key: * = anagram dd … Read more >>

Not a lot of time this morning. 15a, 4d and 19d point to lots of ‘films’. Not sure how the cryptic works with any of them. Across 8 THANKS TO: anagram of THATS … Read more >>

Excellent stuff from Paul today; we made steady progress through this last night and completed it without having to look anything up, so I think the difficulty’s about right. My particular favourite is … Read more >>

dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram Surprisingly quite a tame puzzle for a … Read more >>

An exemplary Monday puzzle – no odd constructions but still enough to exercise the grey matter on the commute. Across 8. ON THE HOP. double definition 9. SPEARS. S.(PEAR)S. 10. TEMPTS. TE(MP)ST*. 11. … Read more >>

Solving time: 7 mins This was my fastest solve of a Saturday puzzle for a while, so must have been easier than usual, even for a non-Araucaria week. Only 20dn (REMARK) caused any … Read more >>

I found this quite tough going,  both solving and parsing, and was pleased to have finished without recourse to the ‘cheat’  button – but irritated to have been completely beaten by the explanation … Read more >>

We enjoyed this and just missed out 8 down, so it’s probably a good difficulty level for a daily puzzle. I particularly liked the surface readings of 9a, 10a, 3d and 12a. Update: … Read more >>