Azed 2059
This was a fairly typical Azed for me, in that I solved about three-quarters of it fairly quickly and without aids (though with plenty of educated guesswork) but took a bit longer on … Read more >>
Everyman Nº 3,398 (13 November 2011)
Everyman continues to provide a wide variety of clue types, with smooth surfaces. As is often the case, there are several geographic references which may not be known to many of his solvers … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1135/Raich
Those who have tackled Raich’s crosswords since he started setting for the Indy will know that he’s keen on his football, so I’ll go straight into cliché land and say that this was … Read more >>
Independent 7,824 by Monk (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 12/11/11)
I’m usually pretty excited to see a (relatively rare) appearance from Monk pop up, especially on a Saturday. Unfortunately, and probably simply to do with the challenges of being self-employed now, I got … Read more >>
Guardian Prize 25,478 / Paul
An entertaining pot-pourri of a puzzle from Paul, to round off an excellent week: a mini-theme of Dad’s Army and mini-mini-themes of pastas, Prime Ministers and flowers. Just right for a Saturday, I … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.992 – Udergroud by Loda
Hey, boys and girls! Do you like shameless cross-promotion? You do? Well, that’s just great, because I was about to tell you that you should listen to Mighty Mighty Mix Tape on www.oxideradio.co.uk … Read more >>
Independent 7829/Phi
One of those crosswords that repeatedly refers to a single clue, so one’s rate of progress depends on how quickly this clue is solved. 8 is quite easy, so the only difficulty was … Read more >>
Guardian 25,483 – Puck
On the easy side for a Puck, partly because 2 and 8 went in immediately. Favourite clues were 12a, 19a and 18d. Thanks to tupu for pointing out that this is also a … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,854 / Bradman
I found a lot to admire in this puzzle and a few clues to struggle with. The bottom-right corner was hard to piece together with 20a and 20d eluding me till the very … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,853 /Orense
Apologies for the late appearance of this post but I’ve been out and hadn’t noticed that the scheduled blogger had not turned up. I’ve got to go out again so this has been … Read more >>
Guardian 25,482 by Chifonie
A straightforward and quite easy puzzle, but very enjoyable nonetheless. I enjoyed this puzzle very much. In a world where setters are outdoing each other to find ever clever devices, grids, ninas, pangrams … Read more >>
Independent 7828 by Klingsor
I’ve got a few problems with the blog today, not entirely due to Klingsor’s clues – I’ve misplaced my glasses so reading clues, solving and typing up are all likely to be error … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,844 – Dante
Monday Prize Crossword/Nov 7 Pleasant starter of the week, this Dante. What struck me was that the clues were shorter than usual. Surfaces were great as ever ….. ….. while my Top 3 … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,843 by Cincinnus
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of November 5 Here’s another fine although uncharacteristic puzzle from Cincinnus. I especially like 1A (DICTION), 19A (MOPED), 5D (BATES), 7D (VAGUE) and 17D (APPLIANCE). And I … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,852 by IO
Good stuff from IO, with some clever and amusing clues. 18,19 was my clear favourite, one of the easier ones but it made me laugh, I thought 15dn was clever too. I can’t get to … Read more >>