Independent 6376 / Nimrod – very Nimrod!
A disadvantage of having Sloggers and Betters 2 on a Thursday was that we lost John Henderson (Nimrod and Enigmatist for those who don’t know) to a quiz night – depite being in … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 893 by Quixote – Quite easy
No particular problem with this one, with the two longest words in the centre coming straightaway from the definitions. Solving time: 12 mins ACROSS 1 P SHAW The playwright George Bernard Shaw 2 … Read more >>
Independent 6380/Bannsider – bruising
Solving time: 59′ (missing two answers) This felt like a fairly hard Times — and I’m going to hazard a guess that Bannsider slums there as well. I spent too much time on … Read more >>
Guardian 24,036/ Gordius: A puzzle of two halves
Can’t really give a time for this – I breezed through the top half in my head between two tube stops, and thought it’d be a breeze, but got bogged down at the … Read more >>
Independent 6379 / Dac – tricky doubleton
Solving time 8:40 About 50% slower than usual for Dac, with most trouble in the NE corner where I couldn’t get ‘Bye Bye’ out of my head for 6A, or quite understand 8D. … Read more >>
Guardian 24035/Logodaedalus
Solving time: roughly 15 mins in total, although work intervened a few times. It’s the first time I’ve solved a Logodaedalus puzzle, so I didn’t know what to expect. This one seemed quite … Read more >>
Independent 6378 by Virgilius – Deadly
After 7 days of the Lenten season last week, this time Virgilius gives us the 7 deadly sins, familiar (in theory, of course) to most, I’m sure. This made it an easy puzzle, … Read more >>
Not about crosswords…
You may notice that the service we provide is a bit irregular over the next couple of weeks. This is because Mrs Dubya yesterday gave birth to our first child, a week early. … Read more >>
Independent 6377 by Tees – Four Seasons
I was sure it wasn’t me today. I was absolutely sure. I just checked to see if whoever it was had posted yet and thought I’d just see who it was when they … Read more >>
Everyman 3155/Mar 18
At first I thought there might be a King Lear theme since he showed up along with one of his daughters. But then it petered out. 25A (TELAMON) was new to me and … Read more >>
Independent 6370/Monk
As if to prove that Sudoku really does appear everywhere these day, it’s even made its way into cryptic crosswords. If you don’t know what I’m on about, have a look at the … Read more >>
Guardian 24,027 (Sat 17 Mar)/Araucaria – Glory, Glory Hallelujah
Solving time: About 30 minutes, plus a later look to get the last three clues (asterisked); one mistake. After 10 minutes I think I had solved two and a half clues. Eventually I … Read more >>
Independent 6375/Phi
This was very tough for me today. I could only find a few windows of opportunity to look at the puzzle so I never really got into it. Three answers have left me … Read more >>
Guardian 24,032/Orlando – what does doordie mean?
I have found some of this week’s Guardian crosswords very challenging, and, given that I also had a Times blog to do today, was anxious that today’s would also be difficult. No such … Read more >>
Inquisitor 11 – A novel approach by Lato
Solving time: about 5 hours, but I cheated. I found the end of this puzzle extremely difficult, not being able to spot the novel for ages. After finding answers to all but a couple … Read more >>