Beelzebub 1,149
A pretty tough Beelzebub this week, I found. I think the fact that the four 12-letter longer words around the perimeter were all unfamiliar to me made it tougher to break into the … Read more >>
IoS 1,152/Crosophile
Having moved from blogging the daily puzzle to the Sunday one, I seem to be landing all the setters I rarely saw during the week. No complaints though, as this was good stuff … Read more >>
Everyman N°3,415 (18th March)
Here we have Everyman’s usual mix of not-too-convoluted wordplays under impeccable surfaces. There are no geographical references to worry about, but a couple of words which might stretch your vocabulary. Across 1. Something … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 1009: Rash by Kcit
A lot going on in the preamble here, but everything was spelt out relatively clearly! There were extra letters in subsidiary indications which, together with three unclued entries, gave a quotation from the … Read more >>
Independent 7932 (Saturday Prize Puzzle 17th March 2012) by Nimrod
Well – a treat for me – a Nimrod puzzle to blog. I’d better reach for the medication! As I would expect from Nimrod – some very original clues. Also a theme connecting … Read more >>
Guardian Prize No 25,586 by Paul
An enjoyable challenge this week, with much of Paul’s characteristic wit on display. I had expected something of an Irish theme, for a puzzle published on St Patrick’s Day, but apart from a … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,960 by Falcon
A fair and challenging puzzle – 6a and 8d being trickiest ACROSS 1 HOT PANTS HOT powerful P games played (cricket) ANTS workers 6 BOTTOM bed (river, ocean) (MOTTO saw … Read more >>
Guardian 25,591 / Tramp
After my comments on themed crosswords on Wednesday, the gods continue to smile on me and I get to blog another of Tramp’s puzzles and, once again, it’s one right up my street. … Read more >>
Independent 7,937 / Phi
Plenty to get one’s teeth into this morning, since this grid, new to me, accommodates a large number of words, including a noticeably high proportion of short entries of 3-5 letters. There were … Read more >>
Live Chat with Enigmatist
After last week’s live chat with Arachne/Anarche, this week it’s the turn of John Henderson (aka Enigmatist/Nimrod/Io/Elgar). The session will be from 1pm to 3pm tomorrow (23rd March). On Saturday, the Guardian Open … Read more >>
Financial Times no.13,959 by JASON
A new setter for me, I think – and he (if he is a he) gave me a real struggle this morning. A fair fight, mostly, although I felt that there were one … Read more >>
Guardian 25,590 – Boatman
Sorry for the later-than-usual posting of this blog – I’ve just got back from a short holiday (thanks to Eileen for covering for me last Friday) and am trying to cope with the … Read more >>
Independent 7936 / Tees
The Independent provides a varied diet of crosswords with an interesting mix of difficulty, types of clues, themes and ninas. On the face of it, today’s offering was a good … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,950 – Mudd
Monday Prize Crossword/Mar 12 An enjoyable prize puzzle by Mudd which I didn’t find very hard. If I remember well, I found it even a bit blandish during solving – but that said, … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,949 by Cincinnus
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of March 10, 2012 There were a few tough clues in this puzzle, such as 9A (APTERYX) and 13D (AUDIOBOOK), but also such gems as 18A (ASSAM), … Read more >>