Independent

I wasn’t on Phi’s wavelength as much today as I normally am, but I think that I got there in the end! There were more new words to me here (1A, 3, 13, … Read more >>

This was a nice challenge from Mordred. Plenty of well-hidden definitions and neat wordplay , and a number of what seem to be trademark &lits. A few less-common words here and there – … Read more >>

As always a lovely crossword from Dac. I solved it online and didn’t time myself, but there seemed to be nothing of any great difficulty here: it all went in very smoothly, something … Read more >>

A Tuesday Teeser… well it’s theme day but I struggled to spot it for a while. Lots of NW corner clues seem to refer to Gods but this proved a wild goose chase… … Read more >>

Typical good Quixote puzzle, today, entertaining, varied, not too difficult, solving time 24 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1   POLIC(e)  Y (yard) 4 OB (old boy) UR (old city – of Sumer) in … Read more >>

I don’t think I’ve ever blogged a Poins before, which always makes for a slightly daunting solve. In the event, I seemed to manage a lot of this on the first pass through…and … Read more >>

NB. For some reason, this is not the puzzle posted on the Indy website today – which is an old Nimrod…The thematic preamble states: “Nine related answers lack a definition in the clues. … Read more >>

Smashing stuff as ever from Phi. Lovely surfaces and some great anagrams, particularly the &lit. at 6D. Clue of the day for me is 22A, which had one of those ‘ah, very good’ … Read more >>

A good crossword as usual from Punk. The long down clue in the middle I thought told us the theme, which was confirmed by 19ac and 27ac, but there weren’t many more answers … Read more >>

Wednesday and it’s DAC again, lovely stuff as ever, great anagrams and surfaces abound No obvious theme although there is a few acting related answers   Across 1 MOVIE M.O. + VIE 4 … Read more >>

Not as detailed a blog as I would have liked to produce today, owing to unexpected personal commitments. However, an enjoyable puzzle with an entertaining theme that I didn’t spot for a long … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism I found this quite tough going and it took me a long time to see how some of the clues worked. There were a … Read more >>

Number 1111 but no obvious link I could see.     Across 1 LABOUR OF LOVE Labour (party) of (about) Love (nothing) 10 UNDATED Wallflowers don’t go on dates 11 NIGERIA [A(bo)rigine]* less … Read more >>

Not the easiest of Indy prize puzzles that I have solved but not the most difficult either. There were a few ‘entry’ clues that went in during the first pass and then it … Read more >>

The usual very nice crossword from Phi. Not all the clues were easy, yet they can all be easily explained. I think. When I saw the six unches at the top and similar … Read more >>