Private Eye/Cyclops – Page 20

Private Eye / Cyclops 559 – Shabby Diplomat

Mon November 9, 2015 at 12:01 am by beermagnet

This puzzle was not a hard as some Eye grids of late, till the last few – notably those <50% checked lights. Particularly fine smut in clue for 15A Across 1 SKIMPY … Read more >>

Cyclops 558: Body talk

Tue October 27, 2015 at 7:07 amMon October 26, 2015 at 12:01 am by jetdoc

It’s Friday and I am trying to get this finished and scheduled in preparation for the York Sloggers & Betters weekend, so I don’t miss the Sunday session like I did last year. … Read more >>

Private Eye / Cyclops 557 – Etonian Lenin

Mon October 12, 2015 at 12:01 am by beermagnet

Cyclops is on a run of quite tough Eye crosswords lately. This is another that took me a fair while to solve. I had more than half the grid filled on the first pass, … Read more >>

Cyclops 556: A bit of a challenge

Wed September 30, 2015 at 3:13 pmMon September 28, 2015 at 12:01 am by jetdoc

A much more challenging Cyclops than I have blogged of late, and perhaps more enjoyable for it. I will give 17d my accolade for clue of the fortnight, for its clever and misleading … Read more >>

Private Eye / Cyclops 555 – Vulgar Role Model

Mon September 14, 2015 at 7:07 amMon September 14, 2015 at 12:01 am by beermagnet

This seemed tougher than many Eye grids of late. I certainly had trouble getting started – I read all the way down to 24A before finding the first answer, and after the “first … Read more >>

Cyclops 554: The dissolute honours list

Wed September 2, 2015 at 8:44 amMon August 31, 2015 at 12:01 am by jetdoc

I haven’t got much to say about this, really — not too difficult. For some reason which I can’t now fathom, 4d held me up longer than the others. Favourite clue this week … Read more >>

Private Eye / Cyclops 553 – Daft Squib

Mon August 17, 2015 at 12:01 am by beermagnet

Cyclops includes a couple of topical references to the current Labour Party leadership contest (9/4) and has put Andy Burnham squarely in the centre ground at 15. I had a curious conversation with … Read more >>

Cyclops 552: “Beautiful plumage!”

Tue August 4, 2015 at 10:56 amMon August 3, 2015 at 7:44 am by jetdoc

I rather enjoyed this Cyclops — I didn’t find it difficult, but some of the clues were nicely challenging. And it gave me the excuse to give you a link to a classic … Read more >>

Private Eye / Cyclops 551 – Brandish spider

Mon July 20, 2015 at 12:01 am by beermagnet

Well over half this puzzle was filled-in by the end of the first pass. I got going again with DISGRACED at 10 which I considered earlier but couldn’t see where the S came from, but … Read more >>

Cyclops 550: Shrink Rap

Tue July 7, 2015 at 8:36 pmSun July 5, 2015 at 9:54 pm by jetdoc

Huge apologies for the laptop failure and consequent lateness. Back in my office now, with what I hope is a reliable computer, trying to get this finished as quickly as possible. So it … Read more >>

Private Eye/Cyclops 549 The Urban Turban

Mon June 22, 2015 at 12:01 am by beermagnet

Whistled through this one quickly getting over half in on the first pass and dealing with the remainder without too much fuss, until stuck trying to work out how the wordplay of 11A could possibly … Read more >>

Cyclops 548: Runcible spooning

Wed June 10, 2015 at 7:20 amMon June 8, 2015 at 12:01 am by jetdoc

A one-pint puzzle for me this week (and that was the first pint, which goes down quickly). Writing the blog took much longer than solving the puzzle, which had no real surprises. I … Read more >>

Private Eye/Cyclops 547 Ashdown Allergy

Mon May 25, 2015 at 8:05 pmMon May 25, 2015 at 12:01 am by beermagnet

Sorry, sorry, sorry – late blog – with no excuse at all. I had this blog ready to go apart from the words at the top and simply forgot. I seem to have … Read more >>

Cyclops 546: Post-electoral tristesse

Mon May 11, 2015 at 9:07 amMon May 11, 2015 at 12:01 am by jetdoc

It felt strange to be solving this knowing that, by the time I finalised the blog, the election results would be known and some of the political references within the puzzle would be … Read more >>

Private Eye/Cyclops 545 Meltdown Climax

Mon April 27, 2015 at 8:29 pmMon April 27, 2015 at 12:01 am by beermagnet

I forgot that I was down to blog this so I solved it in the normal manner, in an easy chair, rather than in front of a computer to make notes. I remember … Read more >>