Independent

Dac as usual shows his mastery. One or two things I’m not quite sure about but it’s more likely to be me than him. Across 1 SCRAPHEAP — (car)* in (shape)* {dum}p — … Read more >>

There’s a Nina here which I refer to after the clue explanations. Solving time, 36 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 VIR(A)GO The clue wording at first suggested the other … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def Some nice clues, but also one or two I thought were a bit hard to decipher (especially 16 across). Across 1 Pass round the hat: … Read more >>

Not quite sure what’s happening here. Phi, who is usually on Friday, was on Monday this week, which suggests that something significant was in the pipeline for Friday. But it doesn’t seem to … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. I think this is the first time I’ve blogged a Nestor. It was jolly good either way, with inventive but solid clueing and some impressive … Read more >>

The Indy has been on rather fine form of late and this puzzle was certainly one of the most enjoyable ones I’ve done in a while. Some very nice clues here and there’s … Read more >>

Solving time, 16 mins * = anagram ACROSS 6 CAT (A) COMB 8 T U’S CAN    TU = trade union 9 GRINDSTONE   (Dinner’s got)* 10 Sir Anthony E DEN 11 SO (PH IS)T … Read more >>

Solving time, 19 mins * = anagram  < = reversal ACROSS 1 RE (GA)IN 4 CHASSEUR  (crushes a)* 9 MORE L 10 BAR BAD IAN 11 STE (AmsterdaM)ER 12 TEN DRIL   “drill” 13 … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. An interesting exercise in “words that are like other words, but with the initial letter chopped off”. I think it took longer to type out … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def It’s fairly unusual for me to blog a Phi puzzle because they normally occupy the Friday slot. He’s actually one of my favourite compilers, with a straightforward … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Aha, so here’s this week’s Dac. Whilst I do have a habit of missing such things, there doesn’t appear to be any particular Mayday theme … Read more >>

My first attempt at blogging a daily crossword, having previously blogged The Inquisitor regularly and Guardian Genius (once so far). I thought the clueing in this crossword was elegant with a number of … Read more >>

Hard as Nimrod usually is, solving time, 58 mins. Very hard to break into, but seeing 1 down was a breakthrough helping with the LHS of the grid. Never systematically counted but Nimrod’s … Read more >>

Great minds are still puzzling as to how Quixote has crossword 1002 in the 1000th issue of the paper which contained many articles and reminiscences to mark that occasion. The puzzle itself was … Read more >>

What’s Phi doing on a Wednesday? There must be something devious lined up for Mayday on Friday, and no doubt we’ll be seeing Dac on Saturday. Or perhaps he just needs a holiday, … Read more >>