Independent

Solving time, 19 mins. The usual pleasing puzzle. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 6 Margaret (D)RABBLE D = daughter 8 N A (S)T IVES 9 ST RAPPER 11 NA (RK) ED … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. A very enjoyable arts/literature themed one from Dac, with the usual rock-solid clueing and some chuckles along the way – 1 ac was a gem. … Read more >>

Thankfully not too tricky for the first day back after a long weekend, but a very enjoyable puzzle with an impressive number of “Q”s Across 1 QUACK QUACK – QUACK x 2, ref. … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def Another very difficult puzzle by Tees. I couldn’t really get going until I looked up the Laurence Sterne wikipedia entry to find the answer to … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. A fairly straightforward one for the most part, I think, although I did have to resort to a bit of cheating to finish it off … Read more >>

A nice, tough offering from Scorpion with some very neat surface readings. There seem to be a lot of clues using abbreviations of one kind or another, some of which were a bit … Read more >>

I found this a bit tougher than usual from Quixote, solving time 28 mins. * = anagram ACROSS 1 PREMIS(E)S 6 B RAISE 9 CARDINAL WOLSEY    (so radically new)* 10 UNHEATED   a in … Read more >>

Lots of interesting history and other information discovered when I researched the answers that I had to check afterwards.  I don’t normally note solving times, but I happened to notice the owl on the … Read more >>

A joy to solve yet another excellent puzzle from Dac.    Solving time, 17 mins. * = anagram ACROSS 1 CAN OF WORMS     Double definition dividing elegantly at this/problem. First answer in the puzzle … Read more >>

My delight in finding that I have to blog a Virgilius crossword is never total, for although there are bound to be some lovely clues I know that there will be some clever … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def Although I’m not a user of it, all the recent fuss over Twitter helped me get going with this puzzle. Once I’d got that, I … Read more >>

Quick, early one from me today as I’m flying off to Denmark for the weekend. Phi back to his usual Friday slot after a couple of weeks elsewhere, and up to his usual … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Math is another setter whose puzzles I’ve never happened to blog before. I found this one inventive, and quite challenging in places. There’s a couple … Read more >>

Solving time: about an hour, mixed with TV watching (ironically …) This is the third Tyrus puzzle I’ve tried in the Indie and the first I’ve finished unaided, but I still found it … Read more >>

Solving time, 16 mins * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 B(L)OG 3 AP PETITE pa< 8 DE C ODES ed< 10 (win)TER MINI 11 SUNDAY LUNCH (Lucy had nuns)* 14 (b)ARMY … Read more >>