Independent

I found this a little harder than usual, solving time 27 mins. * = anagram ACROSS 5 P(L)EASANT 9 HAM PER 10 MARK ET 11 A NOR (E XI)A 12 HURSTPIERPOINT (support in … Read more >>

As always, a high Dac standard, although today I found more to raise an eyebrow at than usual. Across 1 S(OUR)CREAM 6 P(L)AID 9 LoOkS wEaRy 10 ROOMMATES — OM in (are most)* … Read more >>

I found this very hard, but got there in the end, solving time, 63 mins. There are a few that I do not fully understand, though. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone After a lot of quite difficult puzzles recently, it was nice to have something relatively straightforward. I even had time to look for the NINA, which appears across the … Read more >>

I could not finish this, essentially because I’d never heard of the 39 letter phrase at the heart of  the puzzle.    However, as it bounces up on Google, I may be in a … Read more >>

Across 6 hidden reversed in “lIETh” 7 ROB in SINS in NORM< – MRS ROBINSON. Credit where it’s due – Mrs Dubya got this one. 10 A in RODS in BIDE – BROADSIDE. … Read more >>

It’s been fairly hard to avoid the fact that 2009 is the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth, but the fact that the actual day is Feb 12th must have passed me by as … Read more >>

I found this on the easy side, solving time, 14 mins * = anagram   < = reversed ACROSS 1 IN SIDE   doing time = in prison 4 MEDIUM   Double definition 8 S (first … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. After the tougher puzzles we’ve seen from Dac recently, this seemed to come together remarkably quickly. Only the NW corner put up a bit of … Read more >>

The usual delightful Virgilius, with one or two clues that I found particularly difficult but, as should be the case, solution of them was followed by some self-kicking. I completed the bottom half … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone I found this extremely tough. There was a lot of quite obscure stuff and quite a few that I didn’t follow. Across 1,14 Monday Morning Feeling: Mon + hom. … Read more >>

Excellent puzzle. You could pick out 3 or 4 top-notch clues by closing your eyes and randomly pointing with a finger but I especially liked 11 and 1d. I can usually explain everything … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition. A good, solid puzzle, as one tends to expect from Phi – a setter for whom I have the greatest of admiration. I didn’t find … Read more >>

In terms of time taken to solve, I found this the hardest of the year so far, 75 mins.   There’s also a Nina which I refer to after the clue explanations * = … Read more >>

I found this a very fast solve indeed, solving time, 11 mins * = anagram  < = reversed ACROSS 1 V 1 CAR 4 MOT IF (Kipling) 7 CONVENIENCE FOOD  (Innocence of dove)* … Read more >>