Independent

This seemed unusually difficult for Phi and one clue completely defeated me. There are a few I’m not sure about, which will I’m sure be rapidly explained here. Across 1 M(US(1)CO LOG)Y 6 … Read more >>

A nice, tough puzzle from Nestor with some lovely clues. I have to admit I struggled with the NW and SW corners though and there are a few I don’t understand even after … Read more >>

Solving time, 22 mins * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 6 PENNY-PINCHING D0uble definition 8 GENERA LIST 9 RHEA Hidden 10 BI (ST)RO 11 ELECT RUM 12 RUN (‘extra’ from cricket) 13 … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. A few unfamiliar terms for me here, though these were of course offset by the clueing which led the solver unambiguously toward the solutions. Across … Read more >>

Themed as usual by the master. Familiar with both books, so it was quite a quick solve, 17 mins. Great clues as always. * = anagram ACROSS 1 CH (from chess) ARLES ref … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def This was an enjoyable puzzle with a good mixture of clues, which I found a little easier than some Monday offerings (possibly because it was … Read more >>

Apologies for the lateness and brevity. Busy day. A fairly stiff challenge today I thought, with the NW corner proving a tough nut to crack. Excellent clueing as always from Phi. Across 1 … Read more >>

First impressions are that this is a funny-looking grid, I'll expect a Nina or two here. Aha, but it's Radian, who favours quality over quantity in clueing if I remember correctly, hence the … Read more >>

Not too difficult a puzzle from Nimrod which I solved in under 30 minutes. However, there are a few clues where I think the answer is right, but I am not entirely sure … Read more >>

Not too hard, I found, solving time 17 mins * = anagram  < = reversed ACROSS 6 ANDREI SAKHAROV   (a risk a handover)*     Nobel Prize winner (1921-1989) 9 S PINE L 10 G … Read more >>

Dac’s weekly crossword always looked forward to as a delight.    This I found quite easy, solving time 16 mins. * = anagram  < = reversed ACROSS 1 GI(GOT)S 4 MI XER TA P   … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. A challenging one, as can be expected from Monk, and Tuesday Independents in general. I’m not quite sure about 17ac, but I think I’m close. … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def An interesting puzzle about a personality of whom I knew very little. I don’t think the compiler can claim too much credit for the anagram … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. I knew that GCSE in Music would come in handy some day. A nicely-themed Friday puzzle that had me sorely tempted to litter this intro … Read more >>

I’m looking very hard but I can’t see a Nina in this one (I completely failed to see the Nina in last Saturday’s). Nevertheless, a pretty tough puzzle which is what we expect … Read more >>