Independent

All very good as usual. I enjoyed the four long entries around the perimeter, the solving of each one in turn greatly helping to fill another quarter of the grid. My one slip … Read more >>

A joy to solve from this talented setter, showing puzzles don’t have to be hard to be good.  Maybe because I saw quite a few of the answers from the definitions and emerging … Read more >>

Post-revelry solve, so slightly longer than it should have been really, about 25 minutes. Very happy to be joining the blogging team having been long-time readers! Highlights for us were 6 and 8 … Read more >>

As usual, what can one say, apart from perfect smooth surfaces and hardly anything to whine about? Dac’s crosswords never have those rough edges where words like ‘of’,  ‘with’ and ‘by’ are used … Read more >>

Another very impressive themed puzzle from Virgilius. Took me a while to spot what was going on and I found the bottom half tougher than the top, but once I’d twigged the drinks-related … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism Nicely varied crossword that was probably a bit easier than some of Glow-Worm’s previous offerings. I was mostly held up by 2 down, which … Read more >>

The usual good product from Phi. Several enormous anagrams — he must have been out with his Scrabble tiles. Across 1 ‘S A MOA — I think, although ‘s for it’s I’m not … Read more >>

Another challenging-but-fun weekend puzzle from Anax, which kept me occupied for some time, and briefly had me wondering if I was going to manage it. In the end everything came together nicely of … Read more >>

It seems to be nearly a year since I blogged a Morph, and I do remember struggling with that one. This seemed a bit easier, though still pretty challenging of course, so maybe … Read more >>

Solving time, 26 mins, found top half harder than bottom half. * = anagram  < = reversed ACROSS 1 TH(e) WAR conflicT 5 (d)IVAN 8 LEGIT (I’M)ATISED     I’m in (I get details)* 10 … Read more >>

I found this a bit tougher than the average Dac. There are quite a few single word answers of 10 or more characters and these often seem to slow me down. Lovely clueing … Read more >>

Very enjoyable puzzle from Radian, which I found somewhat easier than usual from this setter.  Solving time, 20 mins.  Nina referred to at end. * = anagram     < = reversed ACROSS 1 NOUGHT    … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism A mostly easy puzzle with a couple of harder clues and one that’s driving me bananas trying to understand. There were some excellent clues … Read more >>

I enjoyed this puzzle a lot, very tough and very satisfying to finish, with all understood, and some very well constructed clues, as one expects from Phi.   Solving time, 40 mins. * = … Read more >>

This is the first puzzle by Dac that I have blogged.  I didn’t find anything too difficult.  I’m not sure how long this took as I did it whilst watching Saturday afternoon football … Read more >>