Fifteensquared – Page 1417 – Never knowingly undersolved

Beelzebub1114

Sun July 3, 2011 at 8:00 am by Jed

ACROSS 1 One close to Sun’s lawyers strands a reporter initially at sea BARNARDS STAR BAR (STRANDS A R}* 10 Octahedral crystal, a chunk with end broken off ALUM A LUM[p] 11 High … Read more >>

Guardian Genius 96 / Araucaria – A Masochist’s Delight

Sun July 3, 2011 at 1:01 am by Gaufrid

To say that I struggled with this one would be an understatement. I can usually finish a Genius in under an hour but this time it was nearly that long per clue. Perseverance … Read more >>

Azed No 2039

Sun July 3, 2011 at 12:22 am by bridgesong

I found this a fairly tough challenge, with even more unfamiliar words than usual. I have on several occasions simply quoted the definition from Chambers without any additional comment. It was a … Read more >>

Everyman 3378/26 June 2011

Sun July 3, 2011 at 11:48 amSun July 3, 2011 at 12:01 am by Pierre

A clearly-clued and entertaining entry-level puzzle from Everyman. I was particularly taken with some clever anagrams this week. cd cryptic definition dd double definition (xxxx)* anagram anagrind = anagram … Read more >>

Independent 7,704 by Nestor (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 25/06/11)

Sat July 2, 2011 at 8:39 am by Simon Harding

I must admit that this seemed to be about the toughest Nestor puzzle I’ve ever come across. As a result, I was picking away at it all week. One final entry, 17dn, remained … Read more >>

Guardian Prize Puzzle No 25,358 by Araucaria

Sat July 2, 2011 at 12:10 am by bridgesong

Another entertaining outing from the Master, although I do take exception to a couple of his definitions. I took this puzzle with me to the Sloggers and Betters meeting in Birmingham last Saturday, … Read more >>

Enigmatic Variations No.972 – Extraction by Oxymoron

Sat July 2, 2011 at 2:57 pmSat July 2, 2011 at 12:00 am by Mister Sting

Ah, forgive me. Once again, the days run away from me and you are left without your due, a run down of EV972. I read somewhere that Oxymoron was considered “scrupulously fair”. I … Read more >>

Photos of Sloggers & Betters in Birmingham

Fri July 1, 2011 at 2:23 pm by jetdoc

Lots of photos of last Saturday’s meeting to be found at: S&B Brum As usual, apologies if I have misindentified anyone. Just let me know and I’ll correct

Financial Times 13,734 / Falcon

Fri July 1, 2011 at 9:32 am by Gaufrid

Generally easy though the definition in 18ac might have confused some solvers, as might the wordplay in 20dn for those who haven’t met this usage before. I rather liked the two long anagrams … Read more >>

Guardian 25,363 / Boatman

Fri July 1, 2011 at 7:24 am by duncanshiell

I have written this blog fairly early as I will be travelling for most of the day. If the wi-fi on East Coast Mainline works well, I should be able to read comments … Read more >>

Independent 7709/Phi

Fri July 1, 2011 at 1:57 am by John

As usual a good crossword from Phi. If anything the clues are even better-constructed than usual: they can all be explained easily after the event, although they are not necessarily always easy. One … Read more >>

Independent 7708 by Quaiteaux

Thu June 30, 2011 at 1:46 pm by flashling

I had the pleasure of meeting Quaiteaux at the last London S&B. Found this pretty difficult in places and some bits still evade me. There seems to loads of Cryptic Double definitions … Read more >>

Financial Times No. 13,733 by SLEUTH

Thu June 30, 2011 at 10:11 am by Ringo

Rattled through this without too much difficulty. Was brought up short once or twice by some pretty baroque clueing, but, on the whole, nothing too 29ac. ACROSS 1. COWPAT Cryptic definition of the … Read more >>

Guardian 25,362 / Chifonie

Thu June 30, 2011 at 12:20 pmThu June 30, 2011 at 4:27 am by mhl

An easy but enjoyable puzzle from Chifonie – and for once I have a time-zone difference that makes it easy to get the post done in time 🙂 Across 1. ALLOWED ALL = “Everything” … Read more >>

Financial Times 13,723 by Cinephile

Mon August 1, 2011 at 12:56 pmThu June 30, 2011 at 12:01 am by Pete Maclean

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of June 18 I found this puzzle to be tough. In particular, 4A, 14D and 18D all stumped me for a while. I still do not completely … Read more >>