Beelzebub 1,091 (16/01/11)
A slightly strange week for me. I found this quite tough going and ended up writing in quite a few without following the wordplay. Strangely enough, everything seems perfectly clear on blogging, though … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,092 by Quixote
Nothing too troublesome this week, I think. Another pleasant Sunday solve. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Across 1 LIEU – potential hom. of “loo”, depending on one’s accent. 4 BISECT … Read more >>
AZED No. 2,016 Plain
Nick: A fairly tough AZED this week, I felt, but with some entertaining word play construction going on. There are several solution words I have never heard of this time around. A good solve. … Read more >>
Everyman No. 3355 (16th January)
Lorraine: I enjoyed doing this weeks offering, first in was 1ac. and the last in was 22dn. Plenty of anagrams to keep me happy, which I love trying to fathom out. Many thanks to … Read more >>
Guardian Prize 25,220 / Araucaria
This is one of those puzzles that make your [or, at least my] heart sink when you see a long quotation that covers what seems about half of the grid and, when it’s … Read more >>
Independent 7566 by Klingsor (Saturday Prize Puzzle 15 January 2011)
This is my first Indy blog – and I believe there is another new starter next week – so ‘thank-you’ to the Saturday Indy team for letting a couple of newcomers into the … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 949 – Square By Square by Piccadilly
After a few weeks of seasonal/festive-themed EVs, we are back to business with a ‘normal’ EV – but no less enyoyable for that! A fiendish looking preamble – with ALL answers entered ‘cyclically’ … Read more >>
Independent 7,571/Phi
This is the first Indy daily puzzle I’ve had chance to look at this week, any spare time I’ve had having been eaten up trying to get to grips with last week’s Inquisitor … Read more >>
Guardian 25,225 – Chifonie
I filled in the bottom half of this very quickly, the NE corner slightly less so; the NW corner took me longest (apart from the very easy 1ac), though for no good reason … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,597 / Falcon
Nice and simple with many clues solved in the first pass. The rest fell smoothly as well with some lookups mostly in the top-right corner. An enjoyable puzzle; my only gripe is with … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,596 / Gaff
A prodigious amount of thematic material has been skilfully shoe-horned into this commemorative puzzle. This appears to be Gaff’s debut (oh go on then, inaugural!) appearance in the FT although I wouldn’t completely … Read more >>
Guardian 25,224 by Rover
A very mixed bag. Lots of simple anagrams, with various anagrinds, some more satisfactory than others. Most of the rest are equally simple constructions, so that the puzzle starts to shape up as … Read more >>
Independent 7570/Nimrod
My face fell when up came the name Nimrod. He is just terribly difficult. I can’t quite see why, because in most cases the clues can easily be explained; in fact they are … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,587 / Dante
My first prize puzzle blog — I hope someone reads it! Dante is a regular in this space, and he provides his usual collection of dd’s and cd’s. There were two excellent examples … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,586 by Cinephile
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 8 Cinephile gives us a few fine clues here, 1-18A (STANDING OVATION), 10A (DISARM) and 1D (SUPINE). And a couple of unconventional clues that I … Read more >>