Hob has given us a very nice workout. It was not always easy to see the answers, but once you did everything was clear. And that’s just how it should be. I have a slight criticism of 18ac and 15dn, but it is slight and the more I think about it the more I feel that it is not really justified.
John
Independent 10127 by Morph
Phi was not on his usual day, so I realised that something special was happening.
Definitions underlined, in maroon. Anagram indicators in italics.
Independent 10118 by Radian
This is now the third of Radian’s crosswords in a row that I have had the pleasure of blogging: all very satisfactory, plenty of good clues, nothing controversial, and a Nina, shortly to be exposed, which wasn’t too hard to see.
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.
Independent 10,113 by Loglady
Loglady is new to me, which is not surprising since he/she has almost always appeared in the IoS, which I don’t see. Glad to have made the acquaintance: to begin with my impression was that this was an easy new setter, as the first answers went in quickly, but I ground to a halt and was defeated by 6dn. On the way there were some very good clues (1dn, 8dn).
Definitions underlined, in maroon. Anagram indicators in italics.
Independent 10,108 by Klingsor
It’s always a joy to blog a crossword by Klingsor, something I don’t seem to have done for a while. Of just the right level of difficulty for me, and as usual plenty of very good clues.
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.
Independent 10,103 by Phi
What one always experiences with Phi: a slow start, but then after a while everything runs smoothly, with a whole lot of good clues whose explanation is fairly straighforward and one wonders why they ever presented any difficulties.
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.
Independent 10094 by Radian
(Why have they stopped giving the number and author of the crossword, so that one has to put it in by hand?)
As always with Radian, an utterly satisfactory experience. Many can be explained very simply, although that doesn’t mean they were trivially easy. There is one (22ac) which I can’t understand, but usually in these cases the parsing is perfectly obvious once it’s explained. (There was one … but it became clear when I was looking over what I wrote. Yes quite obvious.)
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.
Independent 10,089 by Tees
As befits Wednesday, a very pleasant and fairly gentle crossword from Tees today, with a large number of clues that can be explained in a single short statement. Tees has a habit of stretching one’s literary-type knowledge to the limits, but not here so far as I can see. I shouldn’t have thought that Sherlock Holmes was particularly outré.
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.
Independent 10,084 by Italicus
Apart from one or two grumbles detailed below, this was all pleasantly done. Several good clues, such as 24ac. I need help on the parsing of 20ac, which is quite beyond me, but otherwise it all seemed reasonably easy.
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.
Independent 10,079 by Phi
As always from Phi, a pleasant crossword whose secrets are quite obvious once they are revealed, but are less obvious to begin with. I’m lost on one of them, but will I trust be helped by someone; indeed I predict that within an hour someone will have put me right and all will be clear and I’ll wonder how I was ever so stupid.
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.
Independent 10,070 by Radian
A pleasant crossword from Radian: all semed straightforward enough and there were some nice clues. I have my doubts about one of them, but perhaps that’s just me being fussy.
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.
Independent 10,065 by Monk
After a run of Monk’s crosswords always being blogged by me, there has been a long gap since I had the pleasure. This is because (being so difficult?) he seems to confine himself almost completely nowadays to the Saturday Prize Puzzle.
Actually I’m not sure it really was much of a pleasure. It was remarkably difficult and it took me ages to do all but two (one of which is I now see the unconvincing homophone I had rejected), and there were some very difficult clues, with rare words and not always convincing (to me, at any rate) equivalences of words. Some years ago I used to look out for Monk crosswords because they were so good. Perhaps I’ve changed over the years.
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics (not many of these, which partly explains the difficulty).
Independent 10,060 by Wiglaf
Not the world’s easiest crossword, but it is Thursday after all. No complaints though: a whole lot of very nice clues, and the only holdups were the result of my own incompetence.
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.
Independent 10,055 by Phi
Phi just goes on producing, doesn’t he. Nothing much to say about this except the usual praise for the setter. But 21dn is still a problem.
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.
Independent 10,042 by Tees
Just right for a Wednesday, the gentleness of whose crossword was established for many years by Dac. This is a worthy successor: the excellent clues are not write-ins, but there is nothing really difficult so far as I can see.
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.