Independent

An excellent offering from Dac.    Solving time: 18 mins. < = reversed   * = anagram ACROSS 1 PLAY BALL   “Cooperate to amalgamate drama and dance”   My favourite clue. 5 TI (ES … Read more >>

Virgilius’s theme today was just a little obvious, a mirror-symmetric grid with greyed-out rugby goal posts in the middle. Yes, it’s the Badminton Horse Trials…no, of course not, it’s the Rugby World Cup … Read more >>

I found this one very easy indeed, as attested by the solving time. Solving time: 10 mins * = anagram < = reversal ACROSS 1 C(H)ANCER crab = sign of the Zodiac 9 … Read more >>

I know with Bannsider that it will be tough and it was.    Got there in the end – one or two that I cannot fully see the wordplay.    Some very good clues as … Read more >>

A something-for-everyone puzzle from Monk. A few easy clues to get you going, some hard ones to stretch you, a bit of innovation here and there and some good old-fashioned smut. Not forgetting … Read more >>

There’s always lots of fun to be had with a puzzle by Punk (or Paul) and this was no exception. Across 1 POCKET,LL,(AIR)* in BIDS – excellent clue and a toughie to unravel, … Read more >>

Quite a tricky puzzle with some novel features.    More verifying needed than usual.     Will concentrate on what I found the trickier or more unusual clues, but happy to explain any other if asked. … Read more >>

Some of the surface readings in this puzzle were truly superb, 1 down shone out. I was beaten by 8 down and Dac has been beaten by 25 down which has two possible … Read more >>

Another wonderful themed puzzle from Virgilius. All the across answers from French and quite a few references in the down clues too. As it happens, this blogger is very familiar with French so … Read more >>

Now I know how one of regular commenters felt when we had a puzzle themed around Elvis. According to his Wikipedia entry, Terry 13A was the best-selling UK author in the 1990s and … Read more >>

Solving time:  29 mins      I spotted a theme, I think, mentioned under the relevant clues. < = reversed   * = anagram ACROSS 1 DUN MOW FLIT CH     This is the theme, … Read more >>

Quite a few long answers in this which made it a fairly quick solve. Naturally, there are a couple of answers which I don’t really understand: 13 and 15A. Oh, and 16D. Across … Read more >>

A mixed bag for me today. A couple of non-dictionary phrases for a start, an answer I simply can’t get and some word play that I just don’t follow. There were some clever … Read more >>

I found this puzzle on the easy side.     Solving time:  14 mins Will concentrate on a small number of what seemed to me the trickier clues, but happy to explain others if asked. … Read more >>

Some easy clues and some very tricky clues in the usual excellent offering from Dac. Solving time: 22 mins * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 WHO OPS I remember these two … Read more >>