Independent

This was another challenging crossword from Bannsider. If there was a theme, it was centred on television programmes and catchphrases from television programmes.  We had STUPID BOY (Dad’s Army), I DON’T BELIEVE IT … Read more >>

Aha. And there I was fully expecting a “Friday the Thirteenth”-themed Virgilius. Instead we have an Eimi puzzle themed around 1ac 10c, today being the one hundredth anniversary of her death. I found … Read more >>

I got nowhere fast with Nimrod’s recent wedding day puzzle, and I didn’t fair much better with this one, eventually resorting to the cheat button with about 60% done. As ever from Nimrod, … Read more >>

The usual tightly-constructed crossword from Dac, with all the clues very simple once they’re got, but not always so easy beforehand. Across 1 BASTIA — asti in (AB)rev. 5 FACE MASK — f … Read more >>

Tyrus today a relatively gentle introduction for me. Nina today from Father Ted with quite a few references in the answers too, including their Eurovision song. 7 Anastasia – Hidden backawards in Australi(a … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism I started looking at this when it appeared on the web site last night and did a double take when I saw it was … Read more >>

A somewhat unusual puzzle this week with one very long answer filling many of the across spaces. We didn’t know the saying, so had to work it out from the anagram, which was … Read more >>

Nother non-numerical Nestor novelty to nonplus us. In fact this was again not as hard as many a midweek puzzle, with firm wordplay once seen. Why do compilers end up picking words and … Read more >>

A nice puzzle from Phi to finish off the week. There was nothing too tricky here, but equally absolutely nothing to complain about, just a batch of very neat, very elegantly written clues. … Read more >>

My impression is that we haven’t seen Punk for a while and if so he makes a welcome return. Some of these clues are memorable, if one could remember them, and my only … Read more >>

I found this very much on the easy side, with quite a few clues solved on first run through, solving time 16 mins.     Excellent as always. * = anagram 1 VIPERS    ER re … Read more >>

A very tough puzzle, involving several unfamiliar words, from one of my favourite setters. I came close to cheating a few times, but was eventually pleased to complete this one unaided. No doubt … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism Some very nice clues here that were mostly very accessible and didn’t require much general knowledge. 15 and 20 were my favourites overall. There … Read more >>

I didn’t time this accurately but thought it was about average difficulty for a Scorpion puzzle – which means pretty tricky. It might have been easier if I’d solved 4A early on, as … Read more >>

A very nice offering from Raich, who has been an excellent addition to the Independent stable this year. I even saw the Nina. Something that many people get very excited about happened on … Read more >>