Financial Times 13,547 / Bradman
Many roundabout definitions today to add zest to our solving, such as ‘where Spanish sailor lands’, ‘least likely to be a beggar’. Also a bigger than usual helping of homophone clues (e.g. 20d, … Read more >>
Guardian 25,172 by Araucaria – A Labour of Love
The luck of the draw gives me an Araucaria for my first Cryptic blog. Not vintage Araucaria, perhaps, and nothing too difficult (thankfully). It is always satisfying when I can look at 1 … Read more >>
Independent 7518/Phi
The usual excellent crossword from Dac (Phi actually. I’m so used to making statements like this that when it’s 2.30 a.m. and both setters have three letters in their names one slips. But … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,081 (07/11/10)
I’ve once again made the mistake of waiting far too long between solving and blogging to really remember much about this one. The lack of scrawls, notes and correction fluid on the grid … Read more >>
Independent – 7517 by Nestor
To borrow a phrase from Anax this was for me a monster. I found bits of this at times beyond me and I’ve still got some gaps in the wordplay for you lucky … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,546 / Hamilton
I think this could well be Hamilton’s first foray into the “supersized-anagram-plus-friends” type of theme. Fortunately the down clues are quite generous, and provided plenty of early checking letters for the main thematic … Read more >>
Guardian 25171 / Arachne
I found this quite a tricky solve, with some intricate wordplay – looking back at the clues, though, I’m not sure it should have caused me so many problems. I’ll put this down … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,537 – Dante
Monday Prize Crossword on 8 November 2010 Once again, it is back to good old Dante with his slick and smooth clues which entertain without over-taxing one’s grey cells. ACROSS 1 ARCHIVES Ins … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,536 by Mudd
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of November 6 Now here is what I call a good Mudd, a puzzle that I can easily imagine took a lot of thought. It was somewhat … Read more >>
Independent 7,516 by Dac
I thought this was rather good. This was certainly quite challenging, at least for me. Many clues took a lot of working out, and also a lot of discipline not be be misled … Read more >>
Guardian 25,170 / Paul
This was a real treat – a beautifully constructed puzzle with a clever theme, the musical part of which was right up my street. [If this were an Araucaria or a Gordius puzzle, … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,545 / Cinephile
It’s Wednesday so there is a good chance that we will see Cinephile, this time with one of his ‘XX has the same meaning throughout’ puzzles. A pleasant stroll on a very wet … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1151 – On the Rebound by Kruger
This puzzle contained a device I’d never seen before, which, at first glance looked like it was going to prove troublesome. In the end, however, it was fairly easy-going. Each entry had to rebound off … Read more >>
Independent 7,515/Scorpion
A quick scan of the 3 most recent blogs on Scorpion puzzles reveals ‘perfectly all right, ‘a remarkably quick solve’ and ‘a bit easier’. Today’s offering – which I found really hard – … Read more >>
Guardian 25169 Orlando – As Merry As A Grig
Last Monday, the FT changed the usual setter and gave me Cincinnus to blog. Today, I got a double with his Guardian alter ego, Orlando. Double helping of steak and kidney pie! And … Read more >>