Independent

A special puzzle on the Irish national day, St Patrick’s Day, by Virgilius who hails from there.        Impressive that so much thematic material was packed into clues and answers.    Great stuff as always … Read more >>

A pretty tough but enjoyable themed puzzle from a Fifteensquared regular. The theme is spelled out in a Nina across the top row, and fans of prison-based sitcoms, or perhaps just those of … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism I finished this fairly quickly, with only the NE corner giving me a few problems. There was an unusually high number of &lits, of … Read more >>

This was a fairly easy puzzle for Nimrod, solved in 12 minutes. My first instinct on sight of the grid, with two black corners and big T’s in the middle, was “there must … Read more >>

An unusually large number of words that I hadn’t really heard of in the usual nice Phi offering. The pairs of four-letter answers at top R and bottom L suggest something, but I … Read more >>

This was very good indeed. nmsindy has admitted to weaknesses esp films but is prepared to admit to a strength, football, which was v helpful here.    Solving time, 50 mins. Thematic words 13 … Read more >>

An in-bed solve, lasting perhaps 25 minutes. ACROSS 1.  R(AD)OME 4. S POKE N 8. PALL OR 9. SOLSTICE (it’s close)* 10. CO M MAN DAN T 11. HANK dd Hank Marvin of … Read more >>

A mixed one for me, having raced through all but three clues in mere minutes, to find myself completely stumped on 10, 25 and 28. I’ll blame the fact that today’s post has … Read more >>

Seems to have been a while since I blogged a Radian puzzle, so nice of him to pop up. There’s a good ornithological theme to this one, with references in many clues and … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism It’s probably a first for me to be blogging the same compiler two Mondays running. This one seems to be timed to coincide with … Read more >>

Usual excellent puzzle from Phi, solving time 32 mins. * = anagram   < = reversed Themed, NW corner I found the hardest. ACROSS 1 LAM Back      Theme of the puzzle, was 4A (MEATS) … Read more >>

I seem to have got off lightly after some of the toughies we’ve had on recent Saturdays, which I’ve really struggled with. This, by stark contrast, didn’t put up much of a fight … Read more >>

We polished this one off in the Bridge in Topsham, with pints of Branoc and hot pasties. What a wonderful afternoon. Found this easier than the previous puzzle, the vocab in this puzzle … Read more >>

An interesting one this, I think – neither too hard nor too easy, though for several the answer came more easily than the explanation. There’s a Nina across the third and antepenultimate rows … Read more >>

It’s been a tough week so far in the Indy, but a good one. Dac’s puzzles are generally on the easier side, but never anything less than brilliant. I found the right hand … Read more >>