Azed 1951/Sway beer!
Not as many impenetrable wordplays (note to self: must improve wordplay decoding). I’m sure once this is posted, someone will put us quickly out of our misery and reveal all. I will say … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,026 (18/10/09)
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Across 1 COCKTAIL BARS – COCK + (BAR in TAILS). 9 ASCENDANCE – DANC[e] in A SCENE. 11 PEN PAL – PEAL “involving” (N + … Read more >>
Indy Prize Puzzles
I have been informed that, due to the postal strike, the closing date for most Indy prize puzzles is going to be extended by a week as from this weekend. Consequently the publication … Read more >>
Guardian 24,833 (Sat 17 Oct)/Paul – ‘Brass’ banned
Solving time: 11½ mins, one mistake (15dn: ‘sagebrass’ for SAGEBRUSH) Paul had a puzzle on Wednesday (21st) which I found very difficult. This felt slightly easier, certainly to get going with, but was … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations No. 884 – Two Questions by Charybdis
The subsidiary indication in each clue leads to an extra letter. These letters indicate the source of two questions (the second of which WAS rhetorical) and reveal a recent and unresolved problem (from … Read more >>
Independent 7178 (Sat 17 October) – Nestor
By the time you read this I’ll be on holiday, so I won’t be able to respond to any questions myself. I finished this in 8:36 so found it fairly easy for a … Read more >>
Independent 7183 by Phi
Quite tricky for a Phi puzzle, enjoyable as always, solving time, 30 mins * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 (p) ASSES 4 A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME Anthony Powell’s … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,215 / Falcon
Many witty clues with nice surfaces today. I found this pleasant and not too tough. Favourites: APPENDIX, ACACIA. Across 1 CUT A DASH CUT (canal, as a verb in the wordplay) + D … Read more >>
Guardian 24,838 (Pasquale)
Fairly straightforward for a Friday. Across clue no. here comment here 1 PAGEANT: AGE in PANT (huff and puff) 5 PLONKER: PLONK (wine) + ER (half of beER) 9 ROOST: ROO (Australian animal) … Read more >>
Inquisitor 146 – Mean – what do you think? – by Lato
It was quite difficult to make progress at first, but the “extra letters in wordplay” phrase started to emerge from CIANS suggesting “politicians”, and QUISLING as a possible unclued answer. Looking up “politicians” … Read more >>
Independent 7,182 by Nimrod
Well I never, a Nimrod that I could actually solve! And very good it was too. There are a couple of references in 10 and 12ac that I couldn't quite explain, but no … Read more >>
Guardian 24837 / Logodaedalus
We got through this very fast indeed – I don’t think there’s much that should have caused problems. The surface readings are very nice throughout. Across 8. ACHILLES CHILL in SEA = “tide” … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,214/Viking
Much like yesterday, a mish-mash of the hackneyed and the hand-crafted. There seemed to be a plethora of “remove a letter” devices today (e.g. 15A, 24A, 28A, 3D, 22D, 25D). Across 1 OVERWROUGHT … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1027 by Quixote – 18 Oct 2009
Like last week, I found this harder than usual from Quixote, not that the clues were more difficult but some of the words were less familiar. Enjoyable solve as always, solving time, 30 … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,205 – Crux
Monday Prize Crossword on 12 October 2009 dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram … Read more >>