Guardian Quiptic 636/Pan
A lovely Quiptic from Pan, I thought. Plenty of charades, anagrams and insertions, but all clearly signposted and just right for the improving solver. Abbreviations dd double definition cd cryptic … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 460 – Missionary hack
This surely rates as the gentlest start to a year yet, and the weather’s very mild for the time of year too. I had all but 4 answers filled in after the “first … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,141
A good challenge this week, with plenty of unfamiliar terms. I’m at a bit of a loss to explain 10dn, unfortunately. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Across 1 THRANG – … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,143 by Crosophile
I think it’s my turn to blog the IoS. The calendar says so, though the Christmas break threw the rota out of whack a little. Apologies if I’m stepping on anyone’s toes. Our … Read more >>
Everyman No. 3406 (15th January)
Nick: Sorry for the lateness of the blog this morning, but we have had a pretty poor week with bad colds/flu (and me working nightshift), Lorraine has to babysit her grandchildren, and what … Read more >>
Azed 2067 / 15 January 2012
This was a fairly typical plain Azed where the parsing is clear after a little bit of thought. I normally find the surfaces of Azed’s clues to be very smooth, but I did … Read more >>
Independent 7878 Bannsider (Sat 14-Jan-2012)
The man from the banks of the Bann gives us a characteristically tricky prize crossword challenge with several clues that had me foxed for quite a while. Several of them up to and … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 1,000: Dollars Also by Rustic
In a blaze of publicity, celebration, and razz-a-ma-tazz, the likes of which have not been seen since the Y2K celebrations of 1999/2000, the EV series has reached its own millennial milestone…congratulations to all … Read more >>
Guardian Prize Puzzle 25,532 by Brummie
Thanks to Brummie for a pleasing weekend crossword, not too difficult. The nine clues of a kind that lack definitions give dances, though in fact I can only find eight clues. This is either … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,906 / Loroso
Challenging workout from Loroso (Anax) in which all across and many down clues had themed definitions. Thought 20d very witty but have failed to parse 17 down …. ACROSS 9 BROKERAGE … Read more >>
Guardian 25,537 – Bonxie
I had confidently predicted an Orlando for today, as we haven’t seen him since just before Christmas, so was slightly worried to see Bonxie’s name, as I’ve sometimes found his puzzles quite hard, … Read more >>
Independent 7883 / Phi
From today, I have transferred from blogging weekday Guardian crosswords on a 3-week cycle to blogging Independent weekday crosswords on a weekly cycle. I have blogged Phi crosswords in the Independent once or … Read more >>
Financial Times no.13,905 by ORENSE
Sorry I’m late – I had some work that steadfastly refused to do itself. A very nice little puzzle, this one, I thought; not too tough (thankfully) but full of wit and imagination. … Read more >>
Independent 7882/Anax
The usual outstanding crossword from Anax. Of course there are one or two about which I’m not quite sure, but that’s usual. There are some quite brilliant clues here. I’ve referred to one … Read more >>
Sunday Cryptic Puzzles
Anax is trying to get some feedback as to what people think about the level of difficulty of the Sunday cryptics. To this end he has added a poll to his website. It … Read more >>