Independent

Only 24 clues here, which I think is about as few as it’s reasonably possible to have in a 15-by-15 crossword where the Ximenean edict of having no answers with more unchecked than … Read more >>

Nice puzzle from The Editor with an appropriate Nina for a puzzle that appeared the day after that amazing opening ceremony in Beijing: in the unchecked letters on the grid perimeter we see … Read more >>

This was a stiff challenge for a weekday I thought, particularly the right-hand side of the grid which was all but empty after my first attempt. Managed to chip away at it eventually, … Read more >>

Solving time, 18 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 Actor Kevin SPACEY – in a dreamy state (adj) – N American usage 5 SECOND    Double definition with split at Extra/time 8 HER(m)ITAGE        Tricky … Read more >>

Good puzzle, as always from Dac.   This one I found on the easy side esp bottom half of grid.    Solving time, 12 mins. * = anagram  < = reversed ACROSS 1 POS(t)ERS     Excellent … Read more >>

There was a different crossword in the paper to that on-line – see blog for no. 6809 for details. In a comment on that blog Eimi mentions that this is also a Virgilius puzzle, from … Read more >>

If you solved the online puzzle today then this post is going to be of no use to you because, as it says in a note under the printed version of the puzzle: … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed I haven’t had chance to see who the compiler is yet, although it seems a bit easier than some of the recent monday puzzles. Across 1 Sometimes: so me times. … Read more >>

I found this mostly quite easy but the bottom left-hand corner gave me no end of difficulties. Eventually I filled in 20, 15 and 16 without really knowing why, along with 21. Across … Read more >>

Across 1 NS in (PETRA)*,T – “Troy” is a reference to the system of weights rather than the city, which is why it can be abbreviated to T. 5 BOATER – sounds like … Read more >>

A peculiarly tricky crossword from Math today, although I don’t know if that’s because I was trying to combine solving it with listening to the cricket. A couple that I don’t understand, but no … Read more >>

I’d recommend Quixote’s puzzles to beginners – straightforward wordplay, always bulletproof, excellent surface readings.    This I found on the easy side, solving time 12 mins * = anagram  < = reversed ACROSS 1 … Read more >>

Silly me, I forgot that I’d be nowhere near a PC all day today, so I set about solving this one online at midnight in a bid to get it blogged before bed. … Read more >>

I found this quite an easy puzzle, solving time 14 mins.   I spotted a Nina (i.e. a hidden message) in the grid. In case solvers wish to look again first, I refer to … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed A clever but tricky puzzle which played on one of the crossword setters’ staples, the doh, re, me notes (the proper name of which is tonic sol-fa). Most of the … Read more >>