Independent

There are times when I find it difficult to find something to write about in a preamble and this is one of them. No theme or Nina to comment on (or at least … Read more >>

Monk is back on the scene it seems, his web site used to say he hides his name in the grid. I can’t see it if he has though, but there are a … Read more >>

This was a more manageable puzzle to solve and to blog than one or two that have fallen to me in recent weeks. Unsurprisingly, it is up to Dac’s usual high standard, with … Read more >>

The second Punk puzzle I’ve landed on the trot. I don’t have any problem with that! This was a doozy, with many references to a pastime which – along with crosswords – has … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism A warm welcome to Quixote, who is switching from the IOS to a regular Monday slot in the weekday paper. This was very much … Read more >>

The final puzzle in a very long run from Quixote, who will now make appearances in the daily Independent. Thanks to him for so many sound and accessible puzzles. Across 1 DURESS Outside … Read more >>

No fancy themes, or ninas, from Bannsider this week – or at least none that I could find! Just a good old-fashioned hard mental workout for a Saturday morning. Oh, and a bit of … Read more >>

On Monday Gaufrid wrote: It was something of a surprise to see Phi on a Monday, Eimi must have something interesting lined up for April 1st Oh dear he was right, seems the … Read more >>

This was my first attempt at blogging an Anax puzzle, and given how challenging I always find his puzzles, panic immediately set in: while under normal circumstances I would expect to get at … Read more >>

More staggeringly good stuff from Dac. You could take pretty much every single clue here and read it as a perfectly sound, elegant, standalone sentence. Some brilliant anagrams too, 7D being may pick … Read more >>

A good crossword today from Math, themed about something that is mentioned after a polite gap. This is to do with the book Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie. I am not that familiar … Read more >>

It was something of a surprise to see Phi on a Monday, Eimi must have something interesting lined up for April 1st. A relatively easy, but pleasant, start to the week with, so … Read more >>

Another entertaining Sunday puzzle from The Don ACROSS 1 DEPARTMENT Cha of DEPART (leave) MEN (fellows) T (time) 9 STET Ins of T (last letter of text) in SET (put) In proof-reading, a … Read more >>

I was able to fill the grid on the Saturday the puzzle appeared but this was a puzzle that I kept returning to during the week, mainly to try and understand the wordplay … Read more >>

Despite the fact that I seem to have blogged a lot of Phi puzzles recently, he can still really put me through my paces, and that he did this very morning. It took … Read more >>