Guardian

A clever themed crossword which shows the ambiguity of the English language. Most of the across clues and some of the down clues lead to words which have two conflicting definitions.  Time taken: … Read more >>

Not for the first time a couple of clues for which I don’t understand the wordplay: e.g 26A, 4A, and a few others in which I can imagine what the answer must be. … Read more >>

Solving time : 54 minutes, with one or two not understood and a little bit of reference book and electronic nudging towards the end. I’m not very familiar with Paul, since I avoid … Read more >>

Good stuff – one of two 3 downs for me in the other downs, but lots of decent clues too.   ACROSS: 9.  DER RING DO. Very nice – Bayreuth made me think Wagner … Read more >>

Solving time 15:33 I was racing through this in the usual quickish time of about 6 or 7 minutes, when I finally got to 24A/D and ground to a halt. It must have … Read more >>

Solving time: 11:11 Lots of cryptic definitions today, a couple of which I don’t quite get, and a monster anagram at 2dn/7dn which I solved fairly late in proceedings. Music (3dn): The Box … Read more >>

Solving time – around half an hour in small doses. I was very busy at work today and didn’t even have time for a lunch break, so I solved this in a few … Read more >>

A good puzzle with consistently high quality defs and wordplay (the latter providing clear direction to answers in some cases even when the def was unknown to me). Incidentally had I not known … Read more >>

Solving time: 4:27 Another cracking construction from Brendan, with the rotationally symmetric across clues forming pairs where the first is of the form AB and the second BA, e.g. SIDE ROAD/ROADSIDE and SAUNAS/NASSAU. … Read more >>

Solving time: 24 minutes I sometimes imagine Paul, in his spare time, at the end of Southend Pier, playing his banjo and telling rude jokes to the assembled punters in a straw boater … Read more >>

The usual mix from Rufus today – some excellent, some not quite so good. Solving time – a little under 8 minutes ACROSS 1 MA(CAB)RE 5 STOKER – shame the setter didn’t find a way … Read more >>

Solving time: 15:23 Not for the first time, a puzzle based on the works of Lewis Carroll, specifically Through the Looking-Glass (TTLG) and its chess ‘match’ between the White and Red pieces. About … Read more >>

Solving time 20:19 Araucaria’s certainly on form today. A great 28-letter anagram at 1A,8D and a lot of other very clever clues made this a real pleasure to solve. I don’t think there … Read more >>

(Hope PaulB isn’t reading this since I’m late again). Another fine Paul opus – some surprising and refreshing wordplay (e.g. 7D, 1A) and sly definitions (e.g. 25A). I did this early morning but … Read more >>