Independent

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone A Groundhog Day themed puzzle, although the joke of having the phrase appear three times owed more to the Bill Murray film than the weather forecasting event. I think … Read more >>

A very quick solve for me on this one, but equally a very enjoyable one. I’ve been trying my hand at writing a few puzzles of my own of late and there’s so … Read more >>

A very enjoyable puzzle which I found pretty tough in places. I doubt I would have got 10 at all without Google and I’m still not sure about 4. Good fun though – … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Another Nimrod which I found to be heavy going. Perhaps if I were at liberty to spend a lazy afternoon lingering over Nimrod’s puzzles I … Read more >>

I found this fairly easy, with the two 15-letters entries solved straightaway. Solving time, 15 mins. * = anagram ACROSS 1 LES SON 4 MAR ROW 9 STABLEMATE Cryptic definition 10 CAM P … Read more >>

A mixture of some very easy and some very difficult clues, I found. Solving time, 24 mins * = anagram   < = reversed ACROSS 1 C (cold) OAT (I) S oats = porridge … Read more >>

The usual nice Virgilius today, but I sense that some of it is passing me by. There was a sinking feeling as I stared at it, quite sure that the usual devilish Virgilius … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone An enjoyable puzzle that didn’t require vast amounts of general knowledge. There were some excellent surface definitions that appeared utterly bewildering at first glance (particularly 21 down). Across 9 … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Apologies if this is a bit later than is customary – I’m just here as emergency cover today. There was a certain amount of brain-racking … Read more >>

I found this very difficult, solving time 46 mins. Thought this was maybe to accommodate a Nina, but so far , despite WAYNE being in the bottom row, all I can see is … Read more >>

This seemed to be one of those days where I filled in a lot of answers without fully understanding them. Some will hopefully become clear as I blog, but there’ll no doubt be … Read more >>

I found this quite easy. Some answers that were new to me I worked out from the friendly wordplay. Solving time, 13 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 HE CATOMB … Read more >>

An unusually tricky Dac today. I don’t remember ever, in one of his crosswords, making so many marks by clues reminding me to look things up afterwards. This does not itself reflect on … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. Hands up who didn’t foresee a presidential-themed crossword for today? I do tend to enjoy Radian’s outings, and this was no exception. Pretty easy overall, … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone I found this extremely tough and struggled to get going. Repeatedly misreading 20 down as “hackneyed phrase” didn’t help. However, all the answers made sense to me. Across 1 … Read more >>