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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 7261 by Dac (Saturday Prize Puzzle 23 January 2010)

Fri January 29, 2010 at 1:00 am by duncanshiell

This is the first puzzle by Dac that I have blogged.  I didn’t find anything too difficult.  I’m not sure how long this took as I did it whilst watching Saturday afternoon football … Read more >>

Categories Independent 4 Comments

Inquisitor 1108 – French Polish by Nutmeg

Fri January 22, 2010 at 7:32 am by duncanshiell

We were told that seven grid entries, clued without definition, were of a kind.  Their response to an exhortation would affect the method of entry of a further seven clue answers.  Further, all … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 3 Comments

Independent 7237 (Saturday Prize Puzzle [26 December] by Radian)

Fri January 1, 2010 at 12:30 am by duncanshiell

A very Happy New Year to one and all. This crossword though was all about Christmas rather than New Year. The combined entry at 2d-7d-5a was taken from Clement C Moore’s poem ‘A … Read more >>

Categories Independent 7 Comments

Inquisitor 154 – X by Phi

Fri December 18, 2009 at 12:22 pmFri December 18, 2009 at 7:32 am by duncanshiell

Phi is one of the more prolific setters with his puzzles appearing in a wide range of publications.  There is always something different about his puzzles and this was no exception. We were … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 6 Comments

Independent 7214 by Anax – Saturday Prize Puzzle 28 November 2009

Fri December 4, 2009 at 9:11 amFri December 4, 2009 at 1:00 am by duncanshiell

This blog was nearly a non-event when I realised on Wednesday that I had thrown out Saturday’s paper and the recycling binmen had taken it away.  Many thanks to nmsindy for coming to … Read more >>

Categories Independent 7 Comments

Inquisitor 149 – Out of Pocket by Ikela

Sun November 15, 2009 at 8:28 pmFri November 13, 2009 at 7:01 am by duncanshiell

I think this was Ikela’s second Inquisitor (update: I gather it his third).  I blogged a previous one just under 6 months ago.  That one, entitled Fatal Attraction,  was based on Bonnie and … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 8 Comments

Independent 7190 by Eimi (Saturday Prize Crossword 31 October 2009)

Fri November 13, 2009 at 7:00 am by duncanshiell

This blog has been delayed a week due to the threat of postal strikes around the normal submission time.  Consequently many of you will probably have forgotten about the puzzle. The grid was one … Read more >>

Categories Independent 9 Comments

Inquisitor 144 – Gross by Schadenfreude

Fri October 9, 2009 at 7:40 am by duncanshiell

Schadenfreude is one of the most regular Inquisitor setters.  I have blogged a number of his puzzles in the past and all have proved challenging.  This one was no exception.  It took me … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 4 Comments

Independent 7160 (Saturday Prize Puzzle – 26 September) by Nimrod

Fri October 2, 2009 at 7:00 am by duncanshiell

This is the second successive Nimrod puzzle that I have blogged for Saturday Independents, so I guess I knew what to expect in terms of both general knowledge and difficulty. Both were at … Read more >>

Categories Independent 6 Comments

Independent 7152 by Nimrod

Thu September 17, 2009 at 12:24 pmThu September 17, 2009 at 11:11 am by duncanshiell

Not too difficult a puzzle from Nimrod which I solved in under 30 minutes. However, there are a few clues where I think the answer is right, but I am not entirely sure … Read more >>

Categories Independent 8 Comments

Inquisitor 140 – Alevin by Viking

Fri September 11, 2009 at 7:35 am by duncanshiell

Viking is a new Inquisitor setter for me, but a bit of research indicates that there is a Viking who plays a major part in crosswords in another place, so the pedigree looked … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 6 Comments

Independent 7136 by Virgilius (Saturday Prize Puzzle – 29 August 2009)

Fri September 4, 2009 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

I solved this in an afternoon whilst watching sport on television, so the fact that I could multi-task probably means that the sport wasn’t too engrossing and the crossword wasn’t too difficult. The … Read more >>

Categories Independent 11 Comments

Independent 7131 by Mordred

Mon August 24, 2009 at 9:21 am by duncanshiell

I am standing in today for a regular blogger who is on holiday.  I am not a regular Independent solver and my dictionary of choice tends to be Chambers.  It is clear however that The … Read more >>

Categories Independent 5 Comments

Independent 7118 by Tyrus (Saturday Prize Puzzle 8 August 2009)

Fri August 14, 2009 at 7:00 am by duncanshiell

I struggled with this puzzle having to return to it a number of times.  With hindsight I think that the wordplay was clever but very fair.  The definitions were well disguised which made … Read more >>

Categories Independent 4 Comments

Inquisitor 135 – Firsts for Chris and Lou by Schadenfreude

Fri August 7, 2009 at 7:35 am by duncanshiell

The preamble stated that the the puzzle commemorated significant anniversaries of two related events which occurred exactly 50 years apart. Single letters or words had to be removed from all of the 40 … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 3 Comments
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