Guardian

A surprisingly easy puzzle for a Thursday, which I don’t think should have posed people any particular problems. (Although I created some for myself by writing TIGERCATS into the grid instead of STRATEGIC … Read more >>

A straightforward puzzle with some delightful clues Across 9 CONTENDER: CON (prisoner) + TENDER (fragile) 10 EMILY: MI in ELY 11 TRICKLE: R (river) in TICKLE (to pet) 12 WHOOPEE: HOOP (band) in … Read more >>

dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram Not that difficult a puzzle. Quite entertaining … Read more >>

My first day back at work after Christmas (boo!), and it’s back to traditional scheduling with a gentle Rufus puzzle. I’m unsure about my explanation of 19ac and unhappy about 26ac. Key: dd … Read more >>

Solving time: 35 mins It would be fair to say that I wasn’t firing on all cylinders when solving this puzzle. The clearest evidence was the five minutes I wasted trying to find … Read more >>

Solving time: 65 mins A very nice Christmas jumbo from Araucaria, with the phrases “We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year” and “God rest you merry gentlemen” hidden in … Read more >>

Boatman’s third outing in the Guardian, and, completely by coincidence, my third chance to blog him. Another enjoyable puzzle, with some excellent clues – I particularly liked 25ac, 1dn and 19dn. Best wishes … Read more >>

Thankfully not that complicated today after a late night, but a reasonable challenge.  There are lots of straightforward formulations, but with nice surfaces and some tricky meanings. Either that or my brain’s still … Read more >>

This was rather tough going until we got the Hogmanay message around the outside (FOR THE SAKE OF AULD LANG SYNE), but good fun nonetheless. There are a few bits of devious wordplay … Read more >>

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

What a treat! I have been so looking forward to my first Araucaria blog but didn’t expect to get it on a Monday. [That’s not to say I wouldn’t have been glad to … Read more >>

Am solving and blogging now after a night out knowing that I won’t get up at a reasonable hour tomorrow/this morning.. surprisingly easy for a Paul, I felt, with a lot of easyish … Read more >>

This is the first Pasquale that I’ve done as a blogger, and sadly I have very little time to devote to it – so apologies for not including more commentary, links, etc. Anyway, … Read more >>

As sometimes happens, I filled in the grid very quickly but took a while to come up with the reasoning behind some of the clues. A vague Christmas theme, a lot of anagrams … Read more >>