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* = anag < = reversed [] = letters removed There was a Quentin Tarantino theme to this puzzle, although no knowledge of the films was required. I found it fairly tough, with … Read more >>

After some tough puzzles last week, things were back to normal with a straightforward Quixote. Across 1. Beauty treatment? Female having a cold one gets a line reduced (6) Facial F(emale) = a … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism I struggled to get into this pop culture-heavy offering and thought one or two of the clues were pretty tricky (especially 1 across). There … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism A fairly standard Quixote, mostly easy but with a couple of clues that held me up a little.  Across 1 Castor: Cast + Or … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism An unusual Monday outing for Punk, which was a themed puzzle, the theme being people and things from Brighton. Since I didn’t know any … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism A fairly standard outing from Quixote, mostly on the easy side, although the parsing of one of the clues (2 down) completely defeats me.  … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism My criticism of Nimrod is that he sometimes does seem to go out of his way to make the puzzle as difficult as possible, … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism I thought this was a slightly harder Quixote with a stronger than normal use of proper nouns, not all of them very topical (e.g. … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism If you’re fed up to the back teeth with the Olympics, there was no respite today from the Independent with another Games themed puzzle. … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism This was just the right level to be fairly challenging to less experienced solvers, although unlikely to cause problems for the more experienced. As … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism This was a slightly odd puzzle with lots of short words. There were lots of nice, inventive clues and I’m sure there must be … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism A fairly straightforward Monday puzzle. It was very accessible today with only 14 down containing a slightly unusual word.  Across 1 Joseph: J + … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism An excellent but very tough Leveson themed puzzle. I found the top half of the puzzle a lot easier than the bottom half. There … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism A fairly standard Quixote with some nice clues. As a sceptic, I rather liked 13 down.  Across 1 Trouble Spots: Tots around Roubles + … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism Slightly unusual for Mordred to crop up on a Monday, but this was a slightly easier puzzle that he sometimes sets. There were still … Read more >>