Independent

It’s Wednesday today, so it’s that time of the week that more often than not sees a Dac puzzle in the Indy. I made steady progress through this puzzle until I reached the … Read more >>

This was a different puzzle from many Independent daily crosswords.  For a start there were 36 clues, significantly more than is usual in a daily blocked crossword.       I thought also … Read more >>

I find Quixote pretty much the easiest of the Indy setters and I found this puzzle very easy indeed even by his standards, solving in what for me was a very fast time … Read more >>

An entertaining puzzle from Poins, with a mini-theme of HEART (24d). Apologies for late and swiftly posted blog, and for any mistakes I have overlooked. Across 1 BALSA Model makers use it with … Read more >>

  I had a bit of ‘blogger’s blindness’ on this one. I found it a struggle, harder than most Tyrus puzzles I’ve tackled before – hard to get started and hard to make … Read more >>

We were pleased to have another Phi to blog but for some reason this wasn’t as much fun as some of his more recent ones. There’s nothing to complain about, all the clues … Read more >>

My one-in-every-four Thursday slot has thrown up a Nestor several times recently, and I am certainly not complaining! With Nestor, you know that you have a challenge on your hands, but you also … Read more >>

This was a good example of a daily puzzle.  The entries are everyday words and the clues conjured up plenty of mental images, many involving enjoyable misdirection.  I struggled a bit deconstructing the … Read more >>

An excellent offering from Anax today. It seems that he is making his crosswords a bit more accessible, without the devilish twists of wordplay that have characterised his puzzles in the past. Although, … 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 >>

Having moved from blogging the daily puzzle to the Sunday one, I seem to be landing all the setters I rarely saw during the week. No complaints though, as this was good stuff … Read more >>

Well – a treat for me – a Nimrod puzzle to blog. I’d better reach for the medication! As I would expect from Nimrod – some very original clues. Also a theme connecting … Read more >>

Plenty to get one’s teeth into this morning, since this grid, new to me, accommodates a large number of words, including a noticeably high proportion of short entries of 3-5 letters. There were … Read more >>

The Independent provides a varied diet of crosswords with an interesting mix of difficulty, types of clues, themes and ninas.       On the face of it, today’s offering was a good … Read more >>

As always a smooth solving experience from Dac. His surfaces are quite outstanding: without apparently trying he manages one that is suited perfectly to the clue and he does this time and again. Across 1 PICNIC … Read more >>