Independent

Slowed up by 7 down which was new to me and had to look for help even when I’d all the crossing letters and knew it was an anagram. Solving time, 25 mins. … Read more >>

Across 1 (TURN TAIL HOME VIA)* – ITALIAN VERMOUTH, otherwise known as IT as in “Gin and It”. But how can “orbital” be an anagram indicator? 9 RY in TON – not difficult … Read more >>

Very tough today, and some excellent misdirection by Dac.  Solving time, 39 mins.    A little rushed today- one not fully understood yet, but verified using ‘Reveal’ that I got it right. * = … Read more >>

I didn’t do this quickly, although looking at it now I bet some people did. One problem was that I wrote an answer in the wrong place, and when I transferred it to … Read more >>

* = anag, < = reversed, () = dropped The bird theme made this crossword the easiest Monday puzzle for some time, but the clues were all well-constructed and there were some good … Read more >>

So now we see why Phi was on Tuesday: Eimi had ready a nice 28ac crossword. I hesitate to say that it was tough, but it took me ages, and some of the … Read more >>

I wonder if anyone will solve this without realising there’s a theme? There are a number of 6d 14a in the grid (highlighted in bold below) as well as in almost every clue, along … Read more >>

Nimrod’s puzzles have a very individual style, rarely more exemplified than here. Found it very hard, but got there in the end, but decided I’d better verify in some cases by using the … Read more >>

Not too difficult – solving time, 18 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 T (A MA) RACK 5 SCH E MA 9 ATROCIT Y (Riot Act)* Y = end of unruly (last letter) … Read more >>

Solving time:  23 minutes  Apologies for the late hour of posting, but a long day of hospital treatment left me rather zonked.   This was a typical enjoyable Dac puzzle with elegant surface readings and … Read more >>

An entertaining puzzle from that nice man we usually see on Fridays. Across 1 INSE[-t],CURE 5 M[i]CE,WAN – the last one I filled in and the toughest clue of the puzzle I thought. … Read more >>

* = anag, < = reversed, () = dropped A slightly easier puzzle from Tees compared to some recent entries, although I have no idea who the person in 24 across was. Across … Read more >>

I’d the privilege of meeting Nestor briefly at the Listener setters’ dinner on the day this puzzle appeared.  I told him I’d struggled with it on the train, but I think he assured … Read more >>

Around about this time each week I usually post a blog about the Saturday prize puzzle in the Independent. However, as I spent most of the weekend preparing to move house and then … Read more >>

A very nice puzzle with a mini-theme based on 28a. Eminently solvable, even for occasional wine drinkers like myself. Across 9 IN THE SOUP – “noodle” can mean a simpleton or blockhead, someone … Read more >>