Guardian

I got off to a good start with this one by getting 1/8ac straight away, but struggled later on. There are quite a few clues that I can’t fully explain: as I’ve run … Read more >>

Another quick post, I’m afraid – I hope there aren’t too many mistakes here. (I had a lot of trouble with this, which is pretty typical of my experience of Gordius’s puzzles.) Across … Read more >>

  A particularly gentle, I thought, start to the week from Rufus, with the typical sprinkling of cryptic and double definitions, but more than the usual number of simple charades. Across 1   PARAMOUNT: … Read more >>

Solving time: 20:43 Another impressive ‘Araubetical’ with answers beginning with each letter of the alphabet. Most of the difficulty for me came from getting started on the grid rather than the clues per … Read more >>

It seems another blogger has been prevented from posting for one reason or another so I’m afraid you will have to put up with me again. A lot of excellent clues today and … Read more >>

Quantum’s posthumous puzzles continue to appear, more than a year after his death. I found this one mostly pretty easy going, though I was slightly held up at the end with the two … Read more >>

 I do enjoy Araucaria’s libertarianism and today was no exception. A mini theme revolving around ‘the House’ which, according to Chambers, can be “at Oxford, Christ Church (Aedes Christi), in London, the Stock … Read more >>

dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram I found Puck such a delight to … Read more >>

A very rushed post today – apologies in advance for any errors! My favourite here was 13 across for its deceptive crosswordese and nice surface reading. Across 5. PERIOD PE = “Exercises” followed … Read more >>

Solving time: 16 mins A rare appearance for Biggles, and possibly a first in the lifetime of this blog. I believe this pseudonym is a conglomeration of the four setters that feature in … Read more >>

I’m not sure what to make of this one – mostly quite straightforward and with some nice clues, but a few quibbles too. There are several places where a word in the clue … Read more >>

Trying to blog this in record speed this morning as I am on borrowed internet usage and won’t get back to a computer until much later in day. Three clues solved but not … Read more >>

This strong week in the Guardian continues with this enjoyable, but quite tough, puzzle from Shed. (I only finished this with the help of my partner, having trouble with 10a, 11a, 10d and … Read more >>

dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram What a lovely and entertaining puzzle full … Read more >>

A very fun crossword today, themed around today’s 60th anniversary of the publication of 1984.  I particularly like how the puzzle takes in the book, Orwell himself, and the actual year. Across 5. … Read more >>