Financial Times 13,533 / Io
Unfortunately we don’t see Io all that often in the FT (his last appearance was just over three months ago) but his puzzles are invariably a pleasure to solve and this was no … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1149: Last Laugh by Kea
I found this pretty tricky and it took several hours over three days to complete. Some interesting words, two of which (ZARI and NIKAB) are only in the latest version of Chambers. Google helped … Read more >>
Independent 7504/Dac
As usual a beautifully elegant construction from Dac. All the clues lead to their solutions with crystalline ease, and they can nearly all be explained in simple logical ways without resort to references, … Read more >>
Independent – 7503 by Morph
Well it is November and been stormy recently, but with Morph here it’s positively raining Cats and Dogs. Cats appear on the left hand side of the grid and dogs on the right. … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,532 / Neo
A quick solve from Neo today. Nothing especially commentworthy, but I enjoyed 21 across and 15 down, among others. Across 8 AGOUTI OUT (in the open) in A GI (an American soldier) 9 … Read more >>
Guardian 25157 Pasquale – Swan of Lichfield to the rescue
A very challenging puzzle from another Master which took me an hour to crack, helped by furious references to on-line sources for words and things I have never heard of before until today. … Read more >>
Guardian 25,156 / Rufus
Sorry for the very late post – I’ve been a bit overwhelmed today, and only just got a chance to rush out this post. Apologies for any errors or omissions… Across 1. PROPELLOR … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 572 / Orlando
Orlando isn’t a regular setter of the Quiptic (this is his first outing this year as far as I can see), but he has produced a most enjoyable and accessible puzzle for us … Read more >>
Guardian Genius No. 88 / Pasquale
Apologies for the late appearance of a post for this puzzle. The scheduled blogger forgot that it was her turn and did not solve it so I am standing in at the last … Read more >>
Site Maintenance
I undertook some site maintenance work over the weekend which involved clearing out redundant items from the database. In the process, it appears that a few posts have been closed to further comments. … Read more >>
Independent 7502 by Merlin
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism Continuing the recent run of themed puzzles in the Indy, this one contained a number of literary adulteresses. It was quite easy to get … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1080 by Quixote – 24th October 2010
A gentler puzzle this week than last, with nothing to frighten the horses. 12ac was a real delight, and made us think for a while about the precision of wording needed in cryptic … Read more >>
Everyman No. 3343 (24th October)
Lorraine: We were on a coach trip to London when solving this weeks puzzle, and oddly enough passed Ludgate Hill. I managed to work out 15d but could not put it in until … Read more >>
Azed 2004
Another Azed that I managed to complete almost all of quite quickly without references, though with some educated guesswork based on many years of finding obscure words in Chambers. Still, it’s none the … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,079 (24/10/10)
I found this to be the toughest Beelzebub for some time, and I had only a handful solved before reaching for various aids. I think it was just the vocab that was my … Read more >>