Guardian

Solving time – around 20 mins, but I had more than half an eye on the cricket! And what a great result for England! A typical Chifonie I suppose – a set of … Read more >>

I don’t think I’ve blogged an Araucaria before so seeing the puzzle this morning worried me a bit. I like Araucaria, in fact my only published Listener puzzle was a tribute to him. … Read more >>

Solving time: 45’ I found this enjoyable though slow going because Paul’s wordplay is often subtle and surprising and he certainly likes subtraction clues. I got the boxer theme first and then the … Read more >>

If I was asked what type of clues I’d like to see outlawed, it would definitely be homophones. There is an outrageous (in my opinion at least) example of this at 8dn, unless … Read more >>

It’s more the Indy’s kind of thing, but I’ve started looking for a themed message, especially in these puzzles with unchecked squares around the perimeter. From the top left  I came up with BASES … Read more >>

Solving time: 10:57 When I started doing the Guardian I wasn’t so keen on Paul’s puzzles, simply because I wasn’t used to the more liberal style. Now I’m more familiar with Guardianese he’s … Read more >>

A couple of racy clues and American states. Unrelated. I found myself solving many of the clues from the definition and struggling to work out the wordplay while writing these notes – I … Read more >>

What makes a good anagram indicator? This puzzle combines what, to me, are some excellent anagrinds and some weaker ones, so I thought I’d set out my own personal likes and dislikes.  “At … Read more >>

Solving time 14:42 Not much to do here, so let’s have a go. This was pretty tough, and there are three clues I don’t understand or can’t quite swallow. For me, these slightly … Read more >>

An enjoyable puzzle today from Araucaria, which either means that there wasn’t too much non-Ximenean shenanigans going on, or that I’m actually getting used to his style (however, the wordplay escaped me on … Read more >>

It’s Monday, so it must be Rufus. His puzzles are generally very easy (8 minutes to solve today’s), and this is mainly because his clues are not always terribly cryptic, and his definitions … Read more >>

Solving time: 20:01. One mistake (2dn) so the last 3 of those minutes were wasted! I know the Guardian allows its setters much more licence than most publications (and that some setters are … Read more >>

My first entry to this blog related to a Chifonie puzzle, so my heart sank at first when I saw that I would be solving another one today. However, this one is a … Read more >>

A puzzle about the tube from Araucaria that probably could be done on the tube. Not all the lines showed up but at least my favorite did (the District, which is what I … Read more >>

A puzzle with an overt theme, rather than one to be deduced, which gives a good illustration of the many different uses of ‘doctor’ in a puzzle. All the across clues and a … Read more >>