As promised, I am putting up one of the several completed Beelzebub puzzles that haven’t seen the light of day. This one very nearly made it (there was an early proof), but in the end was replaced by the ‘special’ I produced containing the names of all the setters. I have something like a dozen in the unpublished heap (and even some unclued grids – I always worked well in advance!), so I will probably add them to the site from time to time.
Unless, of course, something else happens. I note that the Jumbo General Knowledge crossword has reappeared on the Independent puzzle site – I’m pretty certain it wasn’t there one day, and there the next, though there is a plethora of icons to negotiate, and I might have missed the precise date of reappearance. So there may be hope for Beelzebub yet. There would need to be a print or pdf option (as noted previously) – which I do provide, of course (e.g. PDF of puzzle).
If you solve and enjoy the puzzle, please let me know.
There was a very positive review on the relevant blog to a recent (anonymous) puzzle of mine – I think I’ll settle for the Down clues being less pyrotechnic than the Acrosses. (Since I don’t generally clue straight through – and often try clueing from the last clue forwards – there isn’t much justification for assuming I was tiring on the home stretch.) And I was able to savour one of the simple, if somewhat malicious, pleasures of a setter: observing an editorial amendment coming in for criticism…
You might still find yesterday’s copy of the i lying around somewhere, and can thus try Something Fishy. A blog will follow on 25 May or thereabouts. It’s a rather complicated background to this puzzle, and the blog will even indicate why there could be a brief hiatus on updates in the next couple of months.
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