Inquisitor 1144, Pairs at play by Raich
Interesting theme and an entertaining solve. My first reaction was that there seemed an awful lot to keep track of in the extensive rubric! There were three types of clues, and four unclued … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,502 / Armonie
A few new words for me today: 19 across and 20 down. Fortunately for me the wordplay was straightforward in both cases. Favourite clue of the day was 4 across. 12 across is … Read more >>
Guardian 25,127 / Paul
Another mastery offering from one of my favourite setters who is a deft hand at combining devilry and humour with a touch of risque in most of his puzzles. However challenging his clues … Read more >>
Independent 7,473 by Raich
Always nice to see a Raich puzzle. This one seemed really quite straighforward, though the NE corner held me up for a bit while the final few entries fell into place. *=anag, []=dropped, … Read more >>
Independent 7472 by Nitsy
Nice puzzle by Nitsy which varied from quite easy in places to quite tricky, solving time 32 mins. * = anagram ACROSS 1 LAMP M (master) in LAP (drink) lamp = punch (hit) … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 567 / Don Putnam
I thought this was a sound puzzle for those at the start of their cryptic solving careers. Some straightforward solves to get you going with some crossing letters, and then the rest falling … Read more >>
Guardian 25,126 / Brendan
It’s always rather disorientating not to start the week with Rufus but even more so to see Brendan’s name on a Monday puzzle. However, this was more straightforward than many of his, since … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 426 – Crabby diddle
I got one wrong. And I even sent in my entry for the prize competition with it wrong. So I’m expecting my entry to be picked from the gazillions – and then rejected. … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1075 by Quixote – 19th September 2010
A much easier outing this week than last, which H did comfortably over his lunch hour. Some very nice touches (16ac and 21ac were our favourites) together with unexotic vocabulary would make this … Read more >>
Everyman 3338 (19 Sept.)
Arthur is having problems with his computer so I am standing in this week. For me this was a gentle Sunday morning warm-up prior to the stiffer challenges of Azed. The only clue … Read more >>
Azed 1999
With the exception of one or two answers that are still beyond me, I found this very much the usual Azed, with good sound wordplay. Much wading through Chambers: Azed always seems to … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,074 (19/09/10)
Almost an unaided finish this week, albeit with a couple of slips, and I wasn’t quite brave enough to guess 24dn without a bit of research. *=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double … Read more >>
Guardian 25,119 (Sat 18 Sep)/Brummie – Spice girls
Solving time: 8½ mins This puzzle was themed on the nursery rhyme about little boys being made of frogs and snails and puppy-dogs’ tails and little girls of sugar and spice and all … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 932 / Myth on Pariah by Charybdis
Unless I have missed something, always a possibility, I think there is a (minor) flaw in one of the thematic groups (see below). The initial (clued) grid fill was relatively quick and straightforward thanks to … Read more >>
Independent 7465 by Tyrus – Saturday Prize Puzzle 18 September 2010
I solved most of this on a long car journey and didn’t find it too difficult once the long answer at 14/29/1D had fallen. I liked the surface for TRAVAIL and TREATMENT, and … Read more >>