FINANCIAL TIMES 12,893 by MONK
It’s been a few weeks since we’ve seen Monk in the FT (just under six to be precise) so this came as a pleasant change. Some easy clues, some harder ones and some … Read more >>
Guardian 24,514/Araucaria – present and correct
A birthday treat for me – blogging Araucaria. Not too hard by his standards, though there were a few tricky areas and one rather obscure answer at 5dn. Key: dd = double definition … Read more >>
Independent 6857/Virgilius — Normal Service Again
What a relief. When no crossword appeared on Monday, I wondered if the Indy had quietly dropped it, but when I rang them they admitted their error. To do them justice, they did … Read more >>
Guardian 24,513 – Puck
dd = double definition cd = cryptic definition rev = reversed or reversal ins = insertion cha = charade ha = hidden answer *(fodder) = anagram I am truly blessed. Last week, I … Read more >>
Financial Times 12892 / Highlander
Just a glance at the clues and I realised that, as one coming after weekend and prize puzzles, this crossword is a piece of cake. So I adopted a different approach to my … Read more >>
Independent 6856 by Eimi – ‘Tis the Season to Miss out the Crossword
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed I don’t know if the Indy has dropped the cryptic crossword altogether from its published edition but, despite annoying other passengers on the train by noisily going through my paper … Read more >>
Guardian 24512/Rufus
As ever, a great fun puzzle for the start of the week from Rufus, with lots of “A-ha!” moments with the cryptic definitions. I found the top left corner was much harder than … Read more >>
Guardian Genius no.63, Brummie: The final curtain
As a newcomer to the Genius since the site went free, I found this OK but a little – not hard to get going with, but tough to finish because the entry method … Read more >>
Azed 1896 – Giving Chambers a workout
As always, an enjoyable challenge from Azed, with some lovely clues. The two long answers at 1ac and 1dn were pretty easy to spot, and were a big help in getting going with … Read more >>
Guardian 24,505 (Sat 27 Sep)/Araucaria – Breech of the peace
Solving time: 33 mins (one mistake, a misspelling of BREECHES) I found this ‘Araubetical’ (© Muck) very difficult, mostly because of the high number of unchecked initial letters – in fact, after 20 … Read more >>
FT 12,889/Mudd
This puzzle seemed, frankly, a little underwhelming compared to Mudd’s usual standard. Not that there is anything wrong with it, per se; just seems a tad light on imagination or inspiration. I suppose … Read more >>
Inquisitor 91 – Open Wide by Nutmeg
I forgot to solve this puzzle when I should have done, but when I recieved a “where’s that blog?” e-mail, decided I ought to be able to solve the puzzle, given that I … Read more >>
Guardian 24510/Arachne
Is is just me being dense, or was this rather difficult today? I could do with some help with explaining 18d (HACKSAW). That said, there are lots of marvellous surface readings here (too … Read more >>
Independent 6854/Phi
I found this much tougher than most Phi puzzles and two clues (18 and 22) had me completely stumped as the wordplay in each of them led to an answer that didn’t really … Read more >>
Independent 6849/Nestor (Prize puzzle 27-09-08)
I enjoyed this one a great deal. I had the grid filled in reasonably quickly but then had to go over half a dozen or so clues where I’d filled in the answer … Read more >>