Independent

We found this a fairly straightforward, but very enjoyable Phiday offering, with the expected smooth surfaces and some crafty misdirections. We hadn’t come across the French phrase at 24ac before but it was … Read more >>

It is a long time since I last crossed swords with Tyrus as a blogger; indeed, my only previous encounter with him was back in January 2011, with a controversial puzzle themed around … Read more >>

To those of you expecting a Dac crossword you should be aware that today is an important day in musical and operatic history.  Also, if you know the background or interests of the … Read more >>

Radian has given us a difficult but good and sound puzzle today. The theme is based on someone whose birthday I just looked up, but today isn’t some great anniversary. Perhaps it is, though, … Read more >>

It’s fairly unusual to see a DAC on a Monday, although he did skip the usual Wednesday slot a couple of weeks ago, so I suppose this is making up for it. This … Read more >>

I seem to be landing quite a few Kairos puzzles on Sundays, but no problem with that. This was one was just as enjoyable as the others. A good range of clues on … Read more >>

Well my most recent blog of the Independent was on Grand National day – now it’s cup final day – Maybe a cup final theme today? Unlike my previous blog, my suspicions proved to be … Read more >>

It is Friday today, so seeing Phi’s latest grid before me this morning came as no surprise. There was obviously a theme to this puzzle, given the abundance of references to 28, which … Read more >>

This was the kind of puzzle I really enjoy.         Many of the clues involved the intricate wordplay comprising a number of components that I find most satisfying to solve. … Read more >>

The usual very nice crossword from Dac, although this one contained some words that I found a bit tricky, and two of the answers, although confirmed online, are not clear to me. Across … Read more >>

First of all, we want to offer our apologies to Hob. As far as we can see, the Indy has published three puzzles from this new setter and we have now blogged all … Read more >>

It’s Monday, it’s a Quixote puzzle … you know what to expect. A pleasing, accessible crossword which is often a quickish solve for more experienced crossworders, but a fine learning device for those … Read more >>

I think we welcome another new setter to the IoS this week, though I do recall one or two Inquisitors set by eXternal quite recently. This was a good puzzle, which required a … Read more >>

I think I have solved all the clues correctly, but I can’t quite explain the parsing/wordplay in all cases. And although I could detect an underlying theme-ette, there were a couple of ‘almost-nina’s … Read more >>

Phi has a theme running through today’s puzzle.       Literature is not my strong point, but I managed to dredge up all the relevant Shakespeare CHARACTERs [9 across] from The TEMPEST … Read more >>