Everyman No. 3289 (October 11th)
Lorraine: Straight forward again this week apart from 8 down (Obregon), I could not find any reference to this artist in any books I own so had to get Nick to google it … Read more >>
Azed 1950
As always Azed produces a top-class grid, with four words crossing it completely and two more almost doing so. As a result, of course, there are many words that need a painstaking hunt … Read more >>
Beelzebub 1,025 (11/10/09)
This is still one of my perhaps two favourite crosswords, the other being Inquisitor, also in the Independent the day before. Beelzebub seems to hit the perfect balance between challenging and eminently solvable, … Read more >>
Enigmatic Variations 883: Knocker by MynoT
I didn’t know whether to expect a tricky puzzle from MynoT, or an easy one. He seems to be a setter who can produce varying levels of difficulty but, this being EV, I’ll … Read more >>
Guardian 24,827 (Sat 10 Oct)/Araucaria – Arial survey
Solving time: 19 mins I found this the hardest prize puzzle for some time (the recent Jumbo excepted) & really struggled to get started. The inclusion of three foreign language classical arias was … Read more >>
Independent 7177/Phi
A couple of words where I felt no hint of guilt in using the aids: HAEREMAI (obviously familiar to Phi but not perhaps to people outside New Zealand) and MEERSCHAUM, and one more … Read more >>
Guardian 24832 / Brendan
As usual, a really top quality puzzle from Brendan – great surface readings and some surprising wordplay. Thanks to IanN14 for pointing out the theme of U.S. presidents, Franklin PIERCE, Abraham LINCOLN, Andrew … Read more >>
Independent 7,172 by Merlin (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 10/10/09)
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. This week’s answers seemed to go in fairly steadily, albeit with a certain amount of "research" needed to shed light on some of the more … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,209 / Alberich
Solid, satisfying challenge from Alberich as always. Clarifications needed for 18A, 29A. // Updated with clarifications. Thanks to Gaufrid. Across 9 GUATEMALA (MET AUG)< A LA (city) 10 ABUSE AE (Scots word for … Read more >>
Inquisitor 145 – IN MEMORIAM-II by Phi
Superb stuff from Phi as usual. Impeccable clues and a nice theme with a bit of work needed to fill in the middle five rows. I thought it was quite dificult enough without the … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,208/Aardvark – In Ulm, um Ulm und um Ulm herum
Across 1 TARIFF – RA(<) in tiff. 4 AT RANDOM – Rand in atom. Thank god for an accurate definition “indiscriminately”. My current peeve of the month is people wh;ve started using the … Read more >>
Guardian 24,831 – Araucaria
An interesting theme today, I quite like having unclued elements when it’s clear which clues they apply to! The old crossword staple of flower=river is used to good effect too. Across 1. SIDESHOW. … Read more >>
Independent 7,176/Scorpion
I found this one a pretty tough challenge, but was very pleased to get there in the end after a slow start. There are some really nice clueing devices here, though a few … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1026 by Quixote – 11 Oct 2009
I found this much harder than usual from Quixote, with some less familiar words, solving time, 29 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 F (REE P) ORT peer< 5 BLISS … Read more >>
Financial Times 13,199 – Dante
Monday Prize Crossword on 5 October 2009 dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram … Read more >>