Inquisitor 1148 – Trial by Schadenfreude – 16 October 2010
The preamble told us that one letter or word must be removed from each clue before it can be solved. In clue order the removals provide a quotation related to an event which … Read more >>
Independent – 7498 by Dac
Wednesday and back with the Dac goodness, one new word to me but quite get-able, oh and sorry K’sD no hat trick I’m afraid you were on one but Dac’s not played ball. … Read more >>
Independent 7,497 by Tyrus
Cripes. This was very good indeed, but a really tough one to blog, not unlike my previous encounter with Tyrus. With a bit of help, I think I’ve managed to explain things, but … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 571 / Moley
When I noticed that this puzzle had yet to be reviewed, I put this together hastily. Several of the clues seemed to have words added solely for the surface reading, and the missing … Read more >>
Guardian 25151 Paul – Who could ask for more?
What a lovely day this has been. Having bought a ticket to meet one of my favourite setters on my imminent visit to London, I got to blog another of his masterly concoctions. … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,526 / Loroso
Loroso, aka Anax, makes infrequent visits to the FT crossword page that are always welcome. This was a terrific puzzle, with plenty of misdirection and clever wordplay, as well as a set of … Read more >>
Independent 7496 by Glow-worm
Pleasing puzzle from Glow-worm, quite gentle Monday fare, solving time, 22 mins. * = anagram ACROSS 1 IDENTIFICATION 1 DENT (depression) IF 1 CAN around 1st letters of Therapy In Outpatients 10 Henrik … Read more >>
Guardian 25,150 / Brendan
I’m not sure whether the fact that we had a Brendan puzzle four weeks ago made me more or less surprised to see his appearance again on a Monday. I always enjoy his … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 428 – The Deer Hunter
Good work from Cyclops in this crossy. Some clues easy enough to cold solve to get going but funny, and a few tricky ones that fall after a few crossing letters. I nearly … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1079 by Quixote – 17th October 2010
We had all but three of these in place within 15 minutes, but didn’t manage to fill the grid until a day later because of three slightly tricky clues. 17ac has a very … Read more >>
AZED No. 2,003 Plain
Nick: Fairly easy AZED this week – albeit with the usual Scottish words nobody has heard of 🙂 Legend to solution comments: * = anagram. < = word reversed. Across 4. Fool bagging … Read more >>
Everyman 3342
Having posted fortnightly for almost exactly 18 months, and with various other commitments coming to the fore, I won’t be posting on here any more, and so, unless there is no forthcoming replacement … Read more >>
Guardian 25,143 (Sat 16 Nov)/Paul – Brandy flap
Solving time: 8½ minutes A good puzzle from Paul which I made considerably more difficult for myself with a wrong answer at 1ac. There were several cross-referenced clues, including a couple of related … Read more >>
Independent 7,479 Prize Puzzle/Nimrod
Nimrod’s been in for a bit of stick with some of his recent Indy puzzles, but I doubt that there’s anything in here to create such a fuss. This was a good, tough, … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.936 – Four Quarters by Giovanni
This brought back happy memories of the very first EV that I completed. That one also used this format (splitting the grid into quarters). It wasn’t that long ago, so if you’ve been … Read more >>