Dac never fails. His clues always have excellent surfaces and their parsing is straightforward and not open to argument.
Definitions underlined.
Independent
Independent 8700 / Phi
Phi on a Tuesday? Is there something special coming on Phiday? This was an enjoyable solve, as usual, with only a couple of checks required – we’d not come across the … Read more >>
Independent 8699 / Rorschach
There was much to enjoy in this puzzle despite its political and sports references not being of my persuasion. I struggled with the first part of 5/12 until I resorted to Google and I’m … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,279 by Poins
Another quality puzzle from Poins, with lots of nice anagrams to work through. I managed this in one sitting in the pub, making for a very pleasant Sunday afternoon. I don’t seem to … Read more >>
Independent 8,692 by Klingsor (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 23/08/14)
Classic Klingsor really, and very enjoyable. I seemed to get through this fairly swiftly, though the crossing pair of 10 across and 7 down beat me completely, and I had to go online … Read more >>
Independent 8697 / Phi
A standard Friday crossword from Phi today If there is an overt theme or message in today’s crossword it has eluded me. It looks just like a good commuter crossword … Read more >>
Independent 8,696 by Hob
For a long time — in fact until I actually did the blog — I thought that this was themed around 14ac 21dn and was prepared to apologise for my ignorance of his works. but it became clear that in fact the theme was more general. Hob has fitted in many answers with a link to the theme and I have probably missed some of them.
All very cleverly done and apart from my very occasional doubts, which are probably unjustified anyway, a pleasant crossword.
Independent 8695 / Quixote
The Don takes over Dac’s end of the month Wednesday slot, with a relatively straightforward puzzle. One or two synonyms seemed a little tenuous to us, but they didn’t hold up progress too … Read more >>
Independent 8,694 / Scorpion
It has fallen to Scorpion to put us through our cruciverbal paces today. I had to chip away at this one, gradually working my way through the clues, rather than solving them in … Read more >>
Independent 8693 by Commoner
*=anagram [] = removed e.g. char[m]=char ()=abbreviation e.g. A(mpere)=a Hom. = homophone I’ve not come across Commoner much, although the name sounds familiar (maybe I’m confusing it with Everyman). This was a mostly … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1278/Raich
Always a pleasure to get a Raich puzzle to solve and blog. Only a couple that held me up here, and those were down to my muppetry rather than the quality of the … Read more >>
Independent 8686 (Sat 16-Aug 2014) Nimrod
I made some notes when I solved this: First pass of the clues – 10 minutes – 1 answered (18D – 2nd to last clue read) One. That’s all. It’s Nimrod. Oh dear. … Read more >>
Independent 8,691 by Phi
Phi’s usual excellent offering. Most of these clues can be simply parsed, although they were not all that simple to get in the first place.
The radio this morning said that it was Debussy’s birthday, and knowing Phi’s musical leanings I half expected some reference to this, but I can see none. The checkers at the top and bottom might suggest something, but apparently no. My impression is that Phi started off with intentions for them but gave up and produced a ‘normal’ crossword instead. Probably there is something there, although Phi told us recently that his crosswords often contained no Nina.
Independent 8690 / Anax
Well…. another Thursday toughie from Anax. As is often the way with Anax, there were several unusual meanings of words that were otherwise familiar, along with several words we’d not come … Read more >>
Independent 8,689 / Dac
It is Wednesday today and thus home to Dac’s latest offering. Dac has served up another set of succinct clues with silky smooth surfaces – his trademark, in other words. It took longer … Read more >>