Independent 7436 by Quaiteaux
Pleasing puzzle with some nice humorous touches from Quaiteaux. I found parts of it very easy, but then struggled a bit with the NW corner, tho my last two entries were 13A and … Read more >>
Guardian 25090 by Logodaedalus
A Monday and no Rufus! A good mixture of clues from Logodaedalus made this an enjoyable start to the week, and there were no naval references to throw us, which made a change. … Read more >>
Private Eye/Cyclops 423 – Awkward empathy
I made a note that I only had 10 answers in place after the first pint, which is an indication that this was harder than the last few Eye crossies. On the other … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1069 by Quixote – 8th August 2010
Morning all, and welcome to our new Sunday slot. This was the usual mixture of clue types and for the most part went in fairly quickly. However, 1dn has defeated us – I’m … Read more >>
Azed 1993
The standard, routine, par for the course, vanilla wordplays waiting for reader enlightenment. Across 1 BARON,G – it’s broad-bladed knife 6 M,AVENS – indeed AVENS is a rosaceous plant 12 ETOURD*,ERIE – stupid … Read more >>
Everyman 3332
A slightly odd mixture of nice neat and pretty easy cluing with rather a few obscurer pieces of general knowledge meaning that there may have been the odd place where you could see … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 926: Question & Answer by Loda
This was a nice straightforward puzzle from Loda, with six members of a group appearing as unclued entries in the grid and two others (not part of the group) appearing as extra words … Read more >>
Guardian 25,083 (Sat 7 Aug)/Araucaria – Holy smoke
Solving time: Don’t know (clock stopped while solving), but at least 15 mins by the time I concluded that I didn’t know the word at 13ac; 25ac and 15dn also wrong. I started … Read more >>
Independent 7429 – Saturday Prize Puzzle (7 August 2010) by Bannsider
This was another challenging crossword from Bannsider. If there was a theme, it was centred on television programmes and catchphrases from television programmes. We had STUPID BOY (Dad’s Army), I DON’T BELIEVE IT … Read more >>
Independent 7,434 by Eimi
Aha. And there I was fully expecting a “Friday the Thirteenth”-themed Virgilius. Instead we have an Eimi puzzle themed around 1ac 10c, today being the one hundredth anniversary of her death. I found … Read more >>
Guardian 25,088 / Crucible
Well, aren’t I lucky, on a day when I might have expected not to be, to land one of my top favourite setters? This is a typically first-class puzzle from Crucible, with nothing … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,463 / Viking
3-4 clues into this crossword and I had a strong sense of déjà vu. A quick search told me why. This is a repeat of FT 13391 published on May 21st, 2010. This … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,462 – Alberich
To avoid being too sycophantic, I’ll simply list a smattering of the clues that I relished for one reason or another; 1A, 16A, 19A, 27A, 7D, 8D, 22D. If you’re not a regular … Read more >>
Independent 7,433/Nimrod
I got nowhere fast with Nimrod’s recent wedding day puzzle, and I didn’t fair much better with this one, eventually resorting to the cheat button with about 60% done. As ever from Nimrod, … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1137 – Cryptogram by Kruger
I have to confess to being stumped by the final step of this puzzle. The instructions tell us that: “The ‘cryptogram’ formed by two normally clued entries should be highlighted and the relevant … Read more >>