Independent

The usual excellent stuff from Phi. All the clues are neat (those that I can understand, anyway) and the whole thing is very satisfactory. Across 1 CA BAL{l} — or I suppose c a … Read more >>

My heart sank a bit when it was confirmed that it was Anax today after last Saturday’s offering. This is nowhere near that hard. There is a very strong Indian theme to this … Read more >>

Pretty tough today, I thought, especially the lower half of the grid. There were several references to things that I had never heard of, but after a bit of light research, everything adds … Read more >>

I was expecting a Virgilius after recent absences, so seeing Raich was a pleasant surprise. And a very pleasant puzzle it was too. I spotted the mini Beatles theme fairly early on after … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism I’d never come across this setter before but a quick search of this site finds some Inquisitor puzzles that have appeared under that name. … Read more >>

Morning all. An enjoyable selection of clues here, with nothing to whinge about as far as we can tell. Seven down is the pick of the bunch IOHOs, a good example of the … Read more >>

The recent decision to move the prize puzzle blogs to the Saturday has spared my blushes somewhat, as in all honesty this post could not have happened without the “cheat” button. Well, it … Read more >>

Finally got the chance to have a lunch break to do the blog, relatively straightforward I thought. Across 1 Sepulchre – (Cheers up, L)* 6 Rehab – Bar around he reversed 9 Tweet … Read more >>

A characteristically challenging and inventive Tees puzzle, that was far too hard for me to complete in the time available. It feels like there’s a theme here, goddesses perhaps, though I can’t quite … Read more >>

There’s never a chance of a bad (or even average) puzzle with Dac, but he does like to throw in the occasional tricky one. I came completely unstuck on the NW corner here, … Read more >>

All sorts of slightly odd things have occurred recently: Quite often Phi hasn’t been as usual on Fridays, although that is explicable because of the various anniversaries; Virgilius hasn’t appeared on Tuesday for … Read more >>

Pleasing puzzle with some nice humorous  touches from Quaiteaux.   I found parts of it very easy, but then struggled a bit with the NW corner, tho my last two entries were 13A and … Read more >>

Morning all, and welcome to our new Sunday slot. This was the usual mixture of clue types and for the most part went in fairly quickly. However, 1dn has defeated us – I’m … Read more >>

This was another challenging crossword from Bannsider. If there was a theme, it was centred on television programmes and catchphrases from television programmes.  We had STUPID BOY (Dad’s Army), I DON’T BELIEVE IT … Read more >>

Aha. And there I was fully expecting a “Friday the Thirteenth”-themed Virgilius. Instead we have an Eimi puzzle themed around 1ac 10c, today being the one hundredth anniversary of her death. I found … Read more >>