Subscribe RSS

Archive for the Category "Crosswords"

Puns Apr 04

Inspired by the success of Doctor Who, the BBC are launching an adventure series featuring his sidekick, the Boy Wonder: Robin Who.

In other news, if someone who creates a crossword is a setter, is the crossword itself a settee?

 | Comments off
Letter boxes Jul 14

Yesterday, for the first time in months, I completed the daily Guardian cryptic crossword – all on my own, without a dictionary or Google, and before I’d even reached the station for the train journey home. I was suitably flushed. Even better, it was set by the crème de la crème of setters, Araucaria, and featured a signature Very Long Answer. This anagram – 8 words comprising 33 letters – once solved provided a useful hoard of checked letters, which enabled me to solve my favourite clue from the puzzle:

Mary’s third keeps dog in order — good news about her and another James? (4,5,4)

And the answer is…

BOTH DOING WELL

The explanation: Mary Queen of Scots’ third husband was James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell; “dog in” order = doing; and “good news about her and another James?” refers to Mary and her son, James VI, and therefore an expression for mother and child.

 | 2 Comments
Missing lines Jun 27

Following last week’s Observer crossword problem, it was this Saturday’s Guardian that was afflicted.

First I noticed that some of the word lengths in the clues didn’t match the spaces in the grid; then that the grid wasn’t symmetrical; and finally that some clue numbers didn’t appear in the grid at all. The problem: the right-hand column and the bottom row had been omitted from the puzzle.

Fortunately, there is a symmetry in Guardian grids so it was possibly to draw in the missing squares and have a proper go at Araucaria’s puzzle.

Setting gambit Jun 02

A success of sorts in Sandy Balfour‘s G2 competition. For the second time, I’ve made it into the Top Ten entries on Sandy’s website, this time for my clue for “Gambit”:

Morning in Britain and half-wits make first move (6)

 | Comments off