Independent

Perhaps it’s my imagination but was this Anax somewhat easier than usual? It certainly didn’t take long to complete. When I realised the theme I was a little concerned since I am the … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism I found it extremely hard to get going with this and, with no chance of being able to look at it later today, was … Read more >>

I don’t know about you chaps, but I found this week’s Quixote a bit of a challenge. That was possibly due to there being several unfamiliar terms involved (11ac, 16ac and the conductor … Read more >>

A quick glance at the clues for this puzzle showed that the solution to 8 Across was going to be important as five other clues made reference to it.  In fact, the five … Read more >>

Great stuff as ever from Phi. Solid clueing with elegant surfaces and some lovely anagrams. My only doubt was the adjectival use of the answer at 23A, which doesn’t appear in Chambers (but … Read more >>

After what seems to have been a succession of highly complicated and clever crosswords recently, it’s quite nice to get back to something vanilla. But what vanilla. The very best you can get. … Read more >>

There must be some special occasion today for Dac to be ousted from his regular Wednesday slot. There is! Today is the 90th birthday of The Reverend John Galbraith Graham MBE aka Araucaria … Read more >>

I felt rather out of my depth with Nimrod’s offering this morning. I can only marvel at the hard work and ingenuity that has gone into setting this puzzle and bemoan my own … Read more >>

Excellent puzzle full of references appropriate to the day from Radian, which I found ranged from very easy to quite tricky.    Solving times, 27 mins, with the top half much harder than the … Read more >>

A fairly easy solve for me, after the previous day’s debacle with Nimrod for which I was quite glad. 12 ac was a new word on me but the anagram and crossing letters led … Read more >>

I regularly used to struggle with Nimrod puzzles when I was blogging the daily Independent puzzles, and it’s nice to see that some things don’t change. In fact, once again I was saved … Read more >>

As always with Phi, a good crossword with no apparent weaknesses, all the clues utterly sound and satisfactory. No particular clue stood out for me, but that is often the case with Phi: … Read more >>

Thursday fun with Anax, this is a nod to us at fifteensquared. That, however, really has nothing whatsoever to do as a help in solving this crossword. It’s an Anax so it’s tough in places … Read more >>

Sound, tight clueing and an enjoyable, not overly challenging, solve: would we expect anything else on a Wednesday morning from Dac? Some new words for me at 3, 7 and 12, but the … Read more >>

Always a pleasure to land a Math puzzle. The odd-looking grid suggested there’d be some kind of theme, but I didn’t spot anything obvious at first. I also crippled myself in the SE … Read more >>