Independent 8,696 by Hob

For a long time — in fact until I actually did the blog — I thought that this was themed around 14ac 21dn and was prepared to apologise for my ignorance of his works. but it became clear that in fact the theme was more general. Hob has fitted in many answers with a link to the theme and I have probably missed some of them.

All very cleverly done and apart from my very occasional doubts, which are probably unjustified anyway, a pleasant crossword.

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Independent 8693 by Commoner

*=anagram [] = removed e.g. char[m]=char ()=abbreviation e.g. A(mpere)=a Hom. = homophone I’ve not come across Commoner much, although the name sounds familiar (maybe I’m confusing it with Everyman). This was a mostly … Read more >>

Independent 8,691 by Phi

Phi’s usual excellent offering. Most of these clues can be simply parsed, although they were not all that simple to get in the first place.

The radio this morning said that it was Debussy’s birthday, and knowing Phi’s musical leanings I half expected some reference to this, but I can see none. The checkers at the top and bottom might suggest something, but apparently no. My impression is that Phi started off with intentions for them but gave up and produced a ‘normal’ crossword instead. Probably there is something there, although Phi told us recently that his crosswords often contained no Nina.

 

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Independent 8688 / Radian

Tuesday Independent puzzles are often a bit quirky.  Today’s puzzle from Radian fills the Tuesday role admirably       This puzzle was based on the difference between U and Non-U English words. … Read more >>