Private Eye/Cyclops

A quick solve this time which is just as well as I am a bit under the weather (*) Special mention to the wordplay of 17A for giving me a chuckle, and the surface … Read more >>

A relatively quick/easy Cyclops, from a pure solving/timing perspective, but the usual level of quality in surface readings and sarcastic/satirical digs, as one would expect from Private Eye… …only one mention of the … Read more >>

I enjoyed solving this, sadly it didn’t last very long.  Not only are there only 23 clues due to the grid design, but most of the answers flew in. It was nearly a … Read more >>

Cyclops on top form this fortnight…surface readings, political/establishment targets, and the usual level of schoolboy smuttery… 10A is a great surface reading and an apposite anagram…and 14A hits the spot on many levels…is … Read more >>

This looked small after the gigantic Christmas grid. Thanks to Mike for a spectacluar blog for that last time. This one was a gentle start to the year, only 7 to go after … Read more >>

My fellow Cyclops blogger beermagnet kindly ‘took one for the team’ and allowed me to have the Xmas special this year, even though it fell on his shift. Much appreciated… This is the … Read more >>

To whom could Cyclops possibly be referring?…oh yes, there he is at 1A… An enjoyable, and not too taxing, solve this fortnight, or rather this week, as Private Eye seem to have squeezed … Read more >>

Unusually for Cyclops here was a puzzle with a bit of a hidden theme. Several financial terms crop up as answers.  Surely too many for coincidence.  Especially with the longest and central answer … Read more >>

It may just be a product of my febrile (50-year-old) teenage imagination, but this puzzle seems to be a bit of a homage to the late Hugh Hefner… There is a WATER BED … Read more >>

Several clues in this puzzle where I had an inkling of the answwer but could not justify it until understanding some surprisingly convoluted wordplay. For example 5A, which I tackled early on, POSTURE seemed … Read more >>

The usual mix of excellent surface readings, political targets at home and across the water, and a lower-than-usual reading on the Smut-ometer from Cyclops this fortnight… An impressive, if maybe sub-Araucarian and even sub-Paulesque, … Read more >>

One of those where most answers were easily solved leaving a bunch mostly in the top left corner which I found tricky. What is it about the top left corner? Maybe that’s where setters … Read more >>

It is political conference season (in the UK), and Cyclops has highlighted a few pertinent aspects – without naming too many names… …BACKSTABBING, WANNABE, PSYCHOBABBLE, (political) ROOTS, –  and presumably nothing actually gets AGREED. … Read more >>

Who do we think the wastrel is?  Maybot, BoJo, Trump itself?  Too many to choose from Solving kicked off from the right had side but only resulted in about 10 in at the … Read more >>

Is Cyclops showing solidarity with all those commuters struggling into and out of London this August, with various stations affected by ‘improvement’ works in the quieter holiday month?… Certainly Trump seems to have … Read more >>