Independent

This was something a little different, with no setter’s name given and 3 clues having one letter omitted from wordplay that we were told would help with a hidden message. Regular solvers of … Read more >>

My easy time had to come to an end sooner or later. I find Nimrod about as difficult as any of the Indy setters. There are some good clues here and it seems … Read more >>

The days are getting longer hurrah, soon be summer, Here’s a DAC to warm us up. As usual with DAC there doesn’t appear to be a theme or Nina. I’ve got a stinking … Read more >>

A taxing puzzle by Morph which teased and entertained in equal measure. It is rare for a daily cryptic to put me through my paces quite as much as this one did, and … Read more >>

A themed puzzle from Radian as was clear from a first look at the clues with a lot of them referring to the answer at 13. Will leave a gap so as readers … Read more >>

Well I found this harder than a usual Quixote, got there in the end. Didn’t help myself by tentatively putting in Peri for 1ac. Thank you Quixote Across: 1 Puck – not Peri … Read more >>

Solving time: just over 30 minutes – I struggled wth this, as I do with many of Nimrod’s grid stunts – this time, just 10 down answers. I guess the slight under-checking in … Read more >>

The usual high quality crossword from Phi. I found this a little harder than usual, but have no excuse for doing so: all the answers were perfectly obvious once you had them. I … Read more >>

Anax in rude health today with a few risque moments. Some lovely well written stuff but one I can’t quite figure out. Across 1 Typical – T Y + PIC + A L … Read more >>

In my view, a typical Dac puzzle: medium degree of difficulty, with sound clues that keep one guessing just long enough before resolving themselves in a perfectly satisfactory manner. I even learnt a … Read more >>

I’m sure I’ve blogged a Mordred puzzle before, but I can’t find it anywhere using the search. Anyhow, I’ve certainly solved a few of them and often find them to be pretty tough. … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism A fairly gentle Monday morning offering from the crossword editor with some excellent anagrams. 7 caused me problems, mainly because I’d never heard of … Read more >>

Both straightforward and sound, as usual. 12a gets a mention as my favourite clue this week. Across 1 STOP ‘Pots’ = vessels, reversed 6 INCREMENT *(CERT[a]IN); MEN = workers 10 STONED ONE; D … Read more >>

Tyrus puzzles are never what one might describe as “easy”, but I thought this was going to be a blogging disaster until the theme, and subsequently perimeter Nina were spotted. I still had … Read more >>

Friday with Phi and all’s well. Surprisingly few clues in this, grid suggested nina but I can’t see anything or an obvious theme. The usual mix of nice anagrams and wordplay though. Across … Read more >>