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duncanshiell's avatarduncanshiell

Born in 1948. I retired from full-time work in May 2007, after 37 years with Ordnance Survey and associated bodies and now have time to devote to crosswords, something not available for many years. Product of 17 years in the Scottish education system, but lived overseas or in southern England for virtually all of the time thereafter. I moved back to Scotland in 2010. Regular road runner and recently returned to orienteering and golf after a 35 year gap. Developed interested in cryptic crosswords in the mid 1960s (Scotsman, Sunday Express skeleton), but working overseas and then raising a family, meant dropping out of crossword solving for about 30 years. Now a regular solver of Times, Guardian, Independent, Inquisitor, Listener and Magpie crosswords. Reasonably regular finisher of the first four. Started blogging in late 2007. Any solving ability far outweighs any clueing ability. Krypton Factor contestant 1983; eliminated in the first round, but the obstacle course finish made good television!

Independent 9487 / Phi

Fri March 10, 2017 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

This is my regular once in four weeks Friday and not surprisingly I find a puzzle by Phi       I think this is just a standard puzzle free from ninas, themes, … Read more >>

Categories Independent 9 Comments

Independent 9478 / Radian

Tue February 28, 2017 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

Tuesday Independent crosswords tend to be quite challenging and often have a theme       I think today’s puzzle from Radian fits the bill. There are references to Daniel DEFOE and his novel … Read more >>

Categories Independent 7 Comments

Independent 9473 / Tees

Wed February 22, 2017 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

Tees in for Dac on Wednesday this week.       There’s a little bit of retail therapy in the outside columns today with BARGAIN BASEMENT in column 1 and DEPARTMENT STORE in … Read more >>

Categories Independent 6 Comments

Inquisitor 1477: Why by Chalicea

Wed February 22, 2017 at 12:01 am by duncanshiell

Chalicea presented the Inquisitor challenge on 11th February       The preamble was nice and short. It stated "The wordplay of every across clue leads to a letter not required in the … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 15 Comments

Azed 2330 – Right & Left Competition Puzzle

Sun February 19, 2017 at 12:01 am by duncanshiell

An Azed competition puzzle this week – one of his ‘Right and Left’ offerings where each written clue is formed of two clues side by side without telling you which yields an answer in … Read more >>

Categories Azed 13 Comments

Independent 9468 / Serpent

Thu February 16, 2017 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

Serpent provides the challenge today.       Every across entry has at least one B and the unchecked letters in the middle row spell out GOODBYE.  Perhaps Serpent will drop in to … Read more >>

Categories Independent 11 Comments

Independent 9463 / Phi

Fri February 10, 2017 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

Phi has given a crossword with a sort of structural theme       When I say structural theme, I am talking about the form of many of the entries which are constructed … Read more >>

Categories Independent 5 Comments

Independent 9454 / Punk

Tue January 31, 2017 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

Punk appears in the Independent series a little bit less than once a month but it’s always a pleasure to see a Punk puzzle       There was one clearly defined theme … Read more >>

Categories Independent 9 Comments

Independent 9449 / Crosophile

Wed January 25, 2017 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

Crosophile is a regular contributor to the Independent crossword series       There was quite a lot of TURNing and TABLEs in this puzzle – grid and clues – but I can’t … Read more >>

Categories Independent 7 Comments

Inquisitor 1473: Toast by Serpent

Wed January 25, 2017 at 8:22 amWed January 25, 2017 at 12:01 am by duncanshiell

Serpent is a recent recruit [within the last two years] to the Inquisitor stable of setters and this is his fourth offering.       The preamble stated "From the answer to each … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 12 Comments

Independent 9444 / Maize

Thu January 19, 2017 at 12:56 pmThu January 19, 2017 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

Maize has given us an interesting puzzle       On 6th January John commented that he was blogging an Independent puzzle by Phi with only 22 clues, probably the lowest number of … Read more >>

Categories Independent 13 Comments

Independent 9439 / Math

Fri January 13, 2017 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

This has been a week where the traditional setter’s rota has been thrown away so it’s no surprise to find Math rather than Phi today.       The puzzle has a theme … Read more >>

Categories Independent 12 Comments

Independent 9430 / Scorpion

Tue January 3, 2017 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

Thanks to Scorpion I have a good challenge for my first blog of 2017       The puzzle is a pangram.  For a while I thought it was going to be a … Read more >>

Categories Independent 8 Comments

Independent 9425 / Gila

Wed December 28, 2016 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

I’ve blogged one Gila puzzle before – in the Inquisitor series, so this is my first blog of a Gila daily broadsheet puzzle.       There were 18 across clues and 13 … Read more >>

Categories Independent 7 Comments

Inquisitor 1469: Stop Second Calls by Schadenfreude

Wed December 28, 2016 at 12:01 am by duncanshiell

Schadenfreude is a prolific compiler in the Inquisitor series and you always know you are going to get a challenge when you see his name.       The preamble was fairly short … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 11 Comments
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