Azed 2136
I got going pretty quickly with this one, and thought it might be a bit of a walkover, but the last few clues,especially in the SE corner, slowed me to a crawl. It … Read more >>
Guardian 25,945 / Araucaria (12/5/13)
Apologies for the late appearance of this post. The scheduled blogger has been unable to post and I have been struggling to remember what I did a week ago. The special instructions said … Read more >>
Independent Crossword 8291 by Raich (Saturday prize puzzle 11-05-2013)
Well my most recent blog of the Independent was on Grand National day – now it’s cup final day – Maybe a cup final theme today? Unlike my previous blog, my suspicions proved to be … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1068: Bargain by Nutmeg
Some sad news to report first – which I don’t think has been mentioned on this site yet – is that the preamble to EV1069, published on Sun 5 May informs us that James Leonard, … Read more >>
Guardian 25,950 / Arachne
What a lovely end to the week – Arachne on top form – and aren’t I lucky to get two excellent puzzles to blog in one week? It’s all here – great story-telling … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,315 by Wanderer
Witty & ingenious Across 1,5 STEWART GRANGER actor (TARTS GREW)* ANGER (rage) 9 AILED was suffering DELIA< 10 CHINATOWN cultured part of city CHIN (feature) A (article) (WONT)* 11 … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1210
Ingenious and deftly crafted Across 1 Birth defect – mostly with sameness, I fancy SIAMESE TWINS (MOSTLY SAMENESS I)* 10 Emperor finally clothed in new, brilliant, shiny stuff NACRE … Read more >>
Independent 8,296 / Phi
It is Friday today, so seeing Phi’s latest grid before me this morning came as no surprise. There was obviously a theme to this puzzle, given the abundance of references to 28, which … Read more >>
Financial Times no.14,314 by Alberich
An outstanding puzzle today from Alberich, by turns fiendish, witty, inventive and fun. The glut of highbrow allusions – Gerontius? Idomeneo? Borodin? – did make me blanch at first, but once I made … Read more >>
Guardian 25,949 – Araucaria
I made a slow start on this, but after thinking for a while I was going to get nowhere with it, it gradually began to yield. My breakthrough was to be led to … Read more >>
Independent 8295 / Anax
This was the kind of puzzle I really enjoy. Many of the clues involved the intricate wordplay comprising a number of components that I find most satisfying to solve. … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,305 – Armonie
Monday Prize Crossword/May 6 Armonie may not be the hardest of setters, his clues however are consistently concise and elegant. Nice and gentle crossword. Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate. Across 1 … Read more >>
Financial Times 14,304 by Mudd
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of May 4, 2013 I found this puzzle both easy and excellent. There are plenty of good clues but my favourite is 30A (ARGYLE). And there is … Read more >>
Display Problems
A week ago I installed a WordPress plug-in to cache the site’s content. This was because the large number of unwanted bots that regularly crawl the site were causing problems by generating excessive … Read more >>
Independent 8294/Dac
The usual very nice crossword from Dac, although this one contained some words that I found a bit tricky, and two of the answers, although confirmed online, are not clear to me. Across … Read more >>