Azed 2011
I thought I was off to a good start on this one when I got 1ac straight away, but things got a bit tougher after that, and it took me a couple of … Read more >>
Independent 7537 (Saturday 11 December) – Nimrod
Solving time: just over 30 minutes – I struggled wth this, as I do with many of Nimrod’s grid stunts – this time, just 10 down answers. I guess the slight under-checking in … Read more >>
Guardian 25,191 (Sat 11 Dec)/Paul – Lizstless
Solving time: 9 mins I got in a right tangle with this thanks to 3/18dn: with ???M?? AND ????? in place and ‘drunk’ the last word of the clue, the answer was clearly … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No.944 – Standard by Samuel
A tricky one this week, or could it just be that I’m out of practice? (You should take this with a grain of salt. You might find it cheesy. But then again, you … Read more >>
Guardian 25,196 – Brendan
Enjoyable as ever from Brendan with a nice theme around a recent anniversary [spoiler]. Solved pretty quickly after the theme fell, then had to stare at 10a for a good while before the … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,571 / Aardvark
A challenging puzzle at many levels for me: words I didn’t know, devious wordplay. The SW corner was specially tricky, I have a couple of explanations pending and your inputs are very welcome. … Read more >>
Independent 7542/Phi
The usual high quality crossword from Phi. I found this a little harder than usual, but have no excuse for doing so: all the answers were perfectly obvious once you had them. I … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,570 / Falcon
Something for all levels of solvers in today’s outing. In fact, I suspect that this might be a good educational/confidence booster for relatively newbie solvers. A couple of gentle anagrams, a twinset of … Read more >>
Independent 7541 by Anax
Anax in rude health today with a few risque moments. Some lovely well written stuff but one I can’t quite figure out. Across 1 Typical – T Y + PIC + A L … Read more >>
Guardian 25,195 / Crucible
An excellent puzzle from Crucible. (I’ve been lucky with two Crucibles in four weeks :)) There’s a mini theme in 3d, 7d, 20d and 21d, but if there’s more to it, I’ve missed that. … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,561 – Mudd
Monday Prize Crossword on 5 December 2010 Quite a pleasant surprise to see John Halpern aka Paul of the Guardian in this Monday slot. Like all week-opener in the FT, this one is … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,560 by Cinephile
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of December 4 A decent, slightly challenging puzzle from Cinephile this time. My top clue is 25A (KIBOSH). I also like 7D (DECOR) although its wordplay is … Read more >>
Independent 7,540 / Dac
In my view, a typical Dac puzzle: medium degree of difficulty, with sound clues that keep one guessing just long enough before resolving themselves in a perfectly satisfactory manner. I even learnt a … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,569 / Cinephile
A festive theme from Cinephile today in a puzzle that had me scratching my head at times, not to get the answer but to unravel the wordplay. There is still one clue that … Read more >>
Guardian 25,194 / Paul
‘The best laid schemes … ‘ My plan was to stay up and solve this puzzle when it was published and provide an early blog, for once. Alas, I fell asleep at about … Read more >>