Independent

A very pleasant crossword from Raich today. It took a while to get started because of all those clues that refer to some other clue, and none of the Across clues fell at … Read more >>

Tough puzzle today from Radian, solving time 48 mins. All over the clues the phrase “1 of 20” appeared.      Thought that when I cracked 20 after about 10 minutes, the rest of the … Read more >>

As to be expected, The Don served up another scrupulously fair puzzle that can be enjoyed without too much problems on a lazy Sunday. ACROSS 1 CERISE Ins of ERIS (rev of SIRE, … Read more >>

A nicely constructed and clued puzzle, with some wonderfully diverting surface readings, and a little theme-ette (nina?) woven in as well. The theme, not indicated by any preamble, but alluded to by the … Read more >>

This Phi puzzle did my blogging confidence a world of good, after I had emerged last week battered and bruised from my tussle with Nimrod. Nonetheless, I found this a challenging and enjoyable … Read more >>

We don’t often see Nestor during the week and it seems like ages since I’ve blogged one of his puzzles. I was expecting a bit of a toughie, but actually found that I … Read more >>

The usual smoothly-operating crossword from Dac today. Just when you think the great man has slipped you find that in fact he hasn’t and that you’re the one who is at fault. For … Read more >>

Perhaps it’s my imagination but was this Anax somewhat easier than usual? It certainly didn’t take long to complete. When I realised the theme I was a little concerned since I am the … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism I found it extremely hard to get going with this and, with no chance of being able to look at it later today, was … Read more >>

I don’t know about you chaps, but I found this week’s Quixote a bit of a challenge. That was possibly due to there being several unfamiliar terms involved (11ac, 16ac and the conductor … Read more >>

A quick glance at the clues for this puzzle showed that the solution to 8 Across was going to be important as five other clues made reference to it.  In fact, the five … Read more >>

Great stuff as ever from Phi. Solid clueing with elegant surfaces and some lovely anagrams. My only doubt was the adjectival use of the answer at 23A, which doesn’t appear in Chambers (but … Read more >>

After what seems to have been a succession of highly complicated and clever crosswords recently, it’s quite nice to get back to something vanilla. But what vanilla. The very best you can get. … Read more >>

There must be some special occasion today for Dac to be ousted from his regular Wednesday slot. There is! Today is the 90th birthday of The Reverend John Galbraith Graham MBE aka Araucaria … Read more >>

I felt rather out of my depth with Nimrod’s offering this morning. I can only marvel at the hard work and ingenuity that has gone into setting this puzzle and bemoan my own … Read more >>