Independent

I thought this was going to be a nightmare. There I was, blogging shortly after midnight and hoping for a fairly easy one so that I wouldn’t have to stay up all night, … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism 1 across was nicely topical and there was the usual inventiveness from Morph (12 across and 3 down were particularly neat), although I found … Read more >>

An easy Sunday puzzle that is quite entertaining. I wish I had more time to savour the clues but this is not my usual leisurely day. This will probably be my last blog … Read more >>

Crosophile is a new name to me – a search of the 15×15 site shows he has a few weekday Independent and Independent on Sunday cryptics under his belt, but I think this is … Read more >>

I particularly enjoyed solving and blogging this Phi puzzle, my first Phi for a while. An initial perusal revealed only a few (short) entries, then a lot of solutions came in a flurry, … Read more >>

Well, to paraphrase Mark Twain, some may see this as a good puzzle spoiled, but I thought it was a belter. Coinciding with the start of The Open today, Radian has crammed a … Read more >>

The typical excellent Dac crossword with nothing at all controversial. There are one or two slightly unusual words, or unusual uses at any rate, but they are clear enough from the wordplay. Across … Read more >>

A nice puzzle from Scorpion, took me slightly longer than usual as I got held up by 1d and the SE corner.   Yes it’s themed – lots of references to dead parrots … Read more >>

Gentle and enjoyable Monday puzzle from Quixote, solving time 16 mins, which is v fast for me. * = anagram 1   PR (pair) IN  CE (Church)         Even most Indy readers will know that … Read more >>

The second Poins crossword that I’ve drawn in two blogging Sundays, so I wonder if we’re seeing a pattern emerge. No complaints from me either way, as this was enjoyable and perhaps a … Read more >>

I found this to be at the gentler end of the Nimrod spectrum when I solved it although it became more interesting when I started to blog it and analyse the wordplay properly. … Read more >>

A nice themed puzzle from Phi, which provided quite a challenge even though I cracked the key clue fairly early on. I freely admit I needed to have a quick look in my … Read more >>

The other day Eimi gave the impression that there would be something difficult on Thursday. Now we see, and yes, it was difficult. There are one or two clues that don’t seem very … Read more >>

So after a week off for good behaviour DAC returns with a crossword I found a little harder than usual. Probably just me though.   Across 1 LIKE BLAZES Cryptic Double Definition. 6 … Read more >>

I started this puzzle expecting there to be some kind of hidden message around the perimeter that would hold the key to the puzzle’s theme. Instead, there was no Nina to be found … Read more >>