Independent

The usual nice Phi, not too hard but one or two tricky ones.  I think the little Nina is just that 10ac refers to 11ac and 26ac refers to 25ac. Across 1 MO(V AB)LES — my … Read more >>

I got a little bit psyched out last time I blogged a Scorpion, but thankfully this one was a bit more manageable. It was still a challenge though, and there are perhaps one … Read more >>

Solving time, 21 mins * = anagram   < = reversed ACROSS 1 M (IS) USE 4 GRIM ACES 9 NO TI(C)ES 11 NET BALL    ten< 12 PEPPER-AND-SALT       hairstyle 14 LISTENERS    (let sirens)* 16 … Read more >>

Excellent puzzle, solving time 26 mins, lots of puns in the classic crossword style. Not sure if it is just coincidence but each symmetrical pair of 13-letter entries seemed somewhat similar to each … Read more >>

Enjoyable stuff as ever from Virgilius. There are a lot of double defs and homophones here, but it never seems repetitive. There seems to be a mini theme with a number of references … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism Enjoyable and very straightforward puzzle from Eimi. There was less obscure stuff than is sometimes the case, although 7 down was a new word … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism This seemed much more difficult than the usual Phi and some of the definitions were like the sort of left field thing you’d expect … Read more >>

Nice to get a Punk puzzle for my first blog of 2010. I found this on the easier side as Thursdays go, though none the less enjoyable for it. A very good spread … Read more >>

A very enjoyable puzzle from Virgilius. For my own part, found this to be one of the easiest Saturday puzzles I can remember, finishing unaided in roughly 20 minutes – although I don’t … Read more >>

There is something to look for here, referred to after the clue explanations, solving time 22 mins. * = anagram    < = reversed ACROSS 7 REMITTANCE    (Meter it can)* 9 UREA   hidden 10 … Read more >>

As always with Dac, a whole lot of transparently simple and elegant clues that leave one (me, at any rate) wondering how it was that they ever presented any problem. Yet some of … Read more >>

An  excellent themed puzzle from Merlin,  quite hard, solving time 38 mins. * = anagram  <  = reversed ACROSS 1 CUD DIE     A horse, like many of the across answers 4 C (dUCK) … Read more >>

Well, well! I wonder how familiar Raich will be to Independent-solving Fifteensquareders 😉 I’ve tackled a few barred crosswords by Raich, including an Inquisitor that earned me a nice bottle of champagne, but … Read more >>

Mostly quite manageable I think, my one stumbling block here was 1ac, which defeated me event with all the checking letters in place. Given what day it is, I had a brief look … Read more >>

A very Happy New Year to one and all. This crossword though was all about Christmas rather than New Year. The combined entry at 2d-7d-5a was taken from Clement C Moore’s poem ‘A … Read more >>