Independent

Excellent, accessible, puzzle by Dac, as ever. Solving time, 14 mins * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 MAOIST Very good with seamless join at old time/communist O (old) in Siam< t … Read more >>

Hi all, Apologies for the short notice, but I’m laid up with a bad cold and am unlikely to be fit for blogging today. If anybody can step in, I’d be much obliged. … Read more >>

A puzzle in Eimi’s very individual style, which I found quite easy – solving time, 15 mins.   Quite a few references in clues that I was not personally familiar with, but these did … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone An enjoyable puzzle with nothing very controversial. Only one clue I didn’t entirely follow (19 down). Across 1 Toll: To L[iverpoo]l. 3 Able Seaman: (Same banal)* around e. 9 … Read more >>

I think this puzzle was my fastest Indy solve of the year so far, a little less than 10 mins.   Word after word went in from the definitions and crossing letters – the … Read more >>

Across One of the easiest Saturday puzzles we’ve had in a long time but no less enjoyable for that. This would be a great puzzle for beginners to try as the cluing is … Read more >>

Good puzzle, easy in places, tougher in others. I still don’t understand 3, 6 and 22d though. Across 8 TEST TUBE – liked the definition here: “Birthplace of Science”. 9/15 (NINEVEH ABOUT)*,N – … Read more >>

I found this one quite easy – solving time, 13 mins * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 6 PR (O F) ESS OR 8 IMP thE L 10 1 C EBERG (grebe)< … Read more >>

Several quite brilliant long anagrams in Dac’s typically excellent crossword today Across 1 POP SHOP — 2 defs 5 B(IOM)ASS 9 NO RM A 10/11 INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU — (counters a US police)* 12 … Read more >>

A nice, relatively gentle puzzle from Virgilius. There’s a mini-theme of people who share their name with US states, one of whom – 8/12A – got the better of me, largely due to … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone A fairly straightforward puzzle with just one I didn’t entirely follow (17 down) and one I thought seemed a bit weak (19 across). Across 1 Caterpillar: Cater + pillar … Read more >>

This was a nice treat as I’m a big fan of Punk and was expecting to see Phi. I only managed a handful of clues in the first run through and worried that … Read more >>

I thought this was a fantastic puzzle: fair and clever (though sometimes complex) wordplay, amusing definitions and some very nice surfaces. Can’t ask for more than that really. Across 1 ECOL(O,G)I,CAL 7 S,KIT … Read more >>

Solving time, 18 mins * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 M UMBO J UMBO 8 B (R) ITTEN 9 EX PERT 11 TOOTHACHE Cryptic definition 12 RI OJ A (A Jo … Read more >>

Nimrod. Brilliant. With an interesting grid that I don’t remember seeing much before which helps the solver by providing a goodly number of first letters. This solve went very well kicking off with … Read more >>