Independent

Extremely enjoyable puzzle from Nestor, not too difficult, with the 4 14-letter entries yielding reasonably quickly.   Solving time, 21 mins.      And as always I find with Nestor, fresh approaches to clueing. * … Read more >>

Solving time, 15 mins, so I found it fairly easy. * = anagram     <  = reversed ACROSS 1 CHAP(ters)      This was my last entry 3 A Fellow FAIR 7 GRAP(e) HIC 9 CHOW … Read more >>

Yet another fine offering from Dac, though he got the better of me with 4A and 6D! Across 1 DEPUTY – PUT in YE’D rev. 4 HESPERUS – PERU in [-c]HESS – I … Read more >>

U.K. Prime Ministers: I think there are ten of them (Major, Eden, Canning, Aberdeen, Wilson, Derby, Melbourne, Brown, Heath, Grey), which explains 17dn. We’ve become used to Virgilius cleverly fitting them in and … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism A bit of mixed bag with some very nice clues but a couple of slightly weak CDs. It took me a while to understand … Read more >>

After the splendid classical music themed Indy 7,148 of a few weeks ago, I was pleased to open the newspaper and find that I was blogging a further Radian puzzle. The theme here … Read more >>

A characteristically lovely offering from Phi rounds off what has been a really rather good working week of Indy puzzles. The last 5 days have given us pretty much everything cryptic crosswords should … Read more >>

This blog has been delayed a week due to the threat of postal strikes around the normal submission time.  Consequently many of you will probably have forgotten about the puzzle. The grid was one … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. I don't recall blogging a Punk for some time, though maybe that's for the best as I can rarely get to grips with them! This … Read more >>

Solving time, 18 mins. * = anagram   < = reversed ACROSS 5 S (PARR)OWS 7 Itch A MB I(1)      Feet of  a line of poetry 11 H ONE STY 12 AMEN pleaseD ED … Read more >>

I’d expected something to do with Remembrance Day, but no, Dac as usual and up to his usual standard; however, when is he ever not up to his usual standard? This seemed to … Read more >>

Extremely impressive by Nimrod.    Fitting about a dozen examples of the themed answer LAND OF MAKE-BELIEVE into the grid.    Made very little progress till I worked out that thematic answer after about 20 … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism This was an excellent puzzle celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall. There were some tough clues but the presence of a theme which … Read more >>

Unusual crossword in that it said “For ATS, remembering particularly those clued across without definition” It turned out that every across answer was the first name of a person.   I guess ATS refers … Read more >>

The usual very pleasant offering from Phi. One or two I’m not quite clear about, but that will be me not him I’m pretty sure. Across 7 BI(R)D LIME 9 appaREL IS Hard … Read more >>