Posted by Ali on 3rd September 2010
This is the first puzzle I’ve had chance to do this week and, looking at the blogs, it looks as if I’ve landed on my feet drawing the Friday slot. Nothing too tricky here from Phi, and nothing less than excellent, elegant clueing. I thought there might be something going on in the outer unches when EQU appeared on the top row, but there’s nothing that I can see.
Posted in Independent | 15 Comments »
Posted by John on 2nd September 2010
All this was far too difficult for me and if it hadn’t been for the reveal function I’m sure I’d never have finished, because there are still several that I can’t understand. The initial reaction is to say hmm… but perhaps they are devilishly cunning clues that simply go over my head. Let’s hope a few come to me while I’m doing the blog, otherwise this would be rather thin. Well not many did I’m afraid. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 19 Comments »
Posted by flashling on 1st September 2010
Pretty easy and straightforward DAC today.
This was a bit rushed so there may a few typos.
Posted in Independent | 20 Comments »
Posted by Simon Harris on 31st August 2010
I’m a big fan of Radian’s puzzles, so was happy to see the name come up today. This was an enjoyable challenge, themed around 1ac.
Posted in Independent | 18 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 30th August 2010
An excellent puzzle from Mordred.
It is themed on the TV sitcom Last of the Summer Wine (hereinafter LSW) which, after a record-breaking 37 years is coming to an end with the last episode shown yesterday, Sunday 29 August. With that long record, it’s clearly a really popular and successful show.
Posted in Independent | 14 Comments »
Posted by Handel on 29th August 2010
Morning all. An impressive grid this week with no fewer than eight 15-letter answers. These long answers were mostly presented as anagrams, and unpicking them all took some time. Our pick of the clues this week, though, goes to 19ac – a pleasing &lit.
Posted in Independent | 4 Comments »
Posted by petebiddlecombe on 28th August 2010
Solving time: About 38 minutes says my copy, but I think this includes an arbitrary penalty for running out of patience and looking up the posssibilities for 5D, which was a bit poor on my part. Overall I thought it was a bit easier than the previous Saturday’s Anax puzzle, but only a bit. The fairly black outer edge had me watching out for some theme or a message in the grid, but I didn’t spot anything, which may be a cue for an egg on face moment.
Posted in Independent | 11 Comments »
Posted by John on 27th August 2010
The usual excellent stuff from Phi. All the clues are neat (those that I can understand, anyway) and the whole thing is very satisfactory. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 9 Comments »
Posted by flashling on 26th August 2010
My heart sank a bit when it was confirmed that it was Anax today after last Saturday’s offering. This is nowhere near that hard.
Posted in Independent | 27 Comments »
Posted by Simon Harris on 25th August 2010
Pretty tough today, I thought, especially the lower half of the grid. There were several references to things that I had never heard of, but after a bit of light research, everything adds up of course.
Posted in Independent | 13 Comments »
Posted by Ali on 24th August 2010
I was expecting a Virgilius after recent absences, so seeing Raich was a pleasant surprise. And a very pleasant puzzle it was too.
Posted in Independent | 26 Comments »
Posted by NealH on 23rd August 2010
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 18 Comments »
Posted by Handel on 22nd August 2010
Morning all. An enjoyable selection of clues here, with nothing to whinge about as far as we can tell. Seven down is the pick of the bunch IOHOs, a good example of the lean style of cluing that Quixote is able to achieve.
Posted in Independent | 2 Comments »
Posted by Simon Harris on 21st August 2010
The recent decision to move the prize puzzle blogs to the Saturday has spared my blushes somewhat, as in all honesty this post could not have happened without the “cheat” button. Well, it could, but you’d be solving the bottom half of the grid for me, as it was almost entirely empty after a week of staring at it.
Posted in Independent | 10 Comments »
Posted by flashling on 20th August 2010
Finally got the chance to have a lunch break to do the blog, relatively straightforward I thought.
Across
Posted in Independent | 14 Comments »
Posted by Simon Harris on 19th August 2010
A characteristically challenging and inventive Tees puzzle, that was far too hard for me to complete in the time available. It feels like there’s a theme here, goddesses perhaps, though I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Posted in Independent | 17 Comments »
Posted by Ali on 18th August 2010
There’s never a chance of a bad (or even average) puzzle with Dac, but he does like to throw in the occasional tricky one. I came completely unstuck on the NW corner here, due in no small measure to my inability to spot the double definition at 1A. There were one or two other tricky clues and slightly more obscure words as well, but all perfectly fair.
Posted in Independent | 12 Comments »
Posted by John on 17th August 2010
All sorts of slightly odd things have occurred recently: Quite often Phi hasn’t been as usual on Fridays, although that is explicable because of the various anniversaries; Virgilius hasn’t appeared on Tuesday for a while — he must be on holiday — and now we have Mordred, one of the harder setters and usually confined to Thursdays or Saturdays I think, appearing on a Tuesday. Whatever next? Anyway this puzzle was quite accessible and my initial sinking feeling didn’t last long. One or two I’m not sure about, but no doubt … Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 31 Comments »
Posted by nmsindy on 16th August 2010
Pleasing puzzle with some nice humorous touches from Quaiteaux. I found parts of it very easy, but then struggled a bit with the NW corner, tho my last two entries were 13A and 6D. Solving time, 24 mins. For technical reasons associated with the computer I’m working on today, I cannot access the solutions on the Indy website to verify. If any are wrong, happy if someone can point that out.
Posted in Independent | 16 Comments »
Posted by Handel on 15th August 2010
Morning all, and welcome to our new Sunday slot. This was the usual mixture of clue types and for the most part went in fairly quickly. However, 1dn has defeated us – I’m sure it’ll be blindingly obvious as soon as someone puts us out of our misery! Assuming our other answers are all correct it’s T–H, and the clue is given below. Resolved now, thanks Q!
Posted in Independent | 3 Comments »
Posted by duncanshiell on 14th August 2010
Posted in Independent | 7 Comments »
Posted by Simon Harris on 13th August 2010
Aha. And there I was fully expecting a “Friday the Thirteenth”-themed Virgilius. Instead we have an Eimi puzzle themed around 1ac 10c, today being the one hundredth anniversary of her death. I found this a fairly quick solve, though harder towards the SE corner. A lot of the clues are very nice, I thought, with many weaving the theme in very smoothly.
Posted in Independent | 25 Comments »
Posted by Ali on 12th August 2010
I got nowhere fast with Nimrod’s recent wedding day puzzle, and I didn’t fair much better with this one, eventually resorting to the cheat button with about 60% done.
Posted in Independent | 18 Comments »
Posted by John on 11th August 2010
The usual tightly-constructed crossword from Dac, with all the clues very simple once they’re got, but not always so easy beforehand. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Independent | 16 Comments »
Posted by flashling on 10th August 2010
Posted in Independent | 16 Comments »
