Independent

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def Some nice clues with one or two I didn’t entirely follow. Across 1 Hazard: Hard around AZ. 5 Banknote: >: Bank + note. Not sure that in … Read more >>

A bit tougher than usual from Phi, maybe because of some words that were unfamiliar to me.   But all excellently put together.    Solving time, 31 mins * = anagram  < = reversed ACROSS … Read more >>

We get a puzzle from Bannsider around once a month, and every month that puzzle is never less than bloody marvellous. I’m pleased to say that this month is no exception. Across 1 … Read more >>

Like most other people no doubt, I seem to have a full week’s worth of stuff to fit into 4 days this week, so not much time to stop and admire this puzzle … Read more >>

I found this a little harder than normal, 19 and 20 across in particular, the latter not fully understood. Solving time, 32 mins. A theme to it. I refer to this after the … Read more >>

In ‘Logical Chess’, by Irving Chernev, the author takes it upon himself to make a comment on every single move. As you might expect, the commentary on the opening moves of games become … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Interesting puzzle. The across clues present us with various ways of stating the obvious, whilst the many, very short, down clues seem to just fill … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def This was a puzzle of two halves for me. I flew through the left side of the grid but struggled for a while to get going with … Read more >>

Standing in for the normal blogger and would be delighted to receive explanations on what I’ve missed. It was a very challenging and enjoyable puzzle, with some cracking, devious, clues. Very tough indeed … Read more >>

The usual nice Phi today: he seldom has any clues that shout their brilliance at you, but there are always many very satisfactory ones nevertheless. I’m bewildered by two of them and fully … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. This crossword was pants! Not really – it was excellent of course, but it did take “underwear” as its theme (see 3ac). Entertaining stuff, with … Read more >>

Accessible puzzle from Quixote, solving time 17 mins. * = anagram 4 BO (OT)Y 6 F RE EDOM 8 CON SIDE RED 9 Mungo PARK 10 HANSEL (and Gretel) 11 TARNIS H (in … Read more >>

A very good puzzle for April Fool’s Day by Nimrod.     Very tough, solving time, 66 mins.   There’s a Nina  which I refer to after the clue explanations. * = anagram ACROSS 6 PAUL   … Read more >>

Was it just me being tired from having stayed up late watching The Wire last night, or was some of this quite hard for a Dac puzzle? The middle of the grid didn’t … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def My initial thought on seeing this puzzle was that the theme would be something like the Taming of the Shrew, so I set off with a mental … Read more >>