Independent

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed I found this very difficult, particularly the bottom right hand corner. There were two or three I didn’t understand and a few obscure words (tosh, lig) that I hadn’t come … Read more >>

A mercifully gentle end to a tough week. There were one or two answers I wasn’t immediately sure about, but solid clueing as always from Phi. Across 1 SACK – Straight DD to … Read more >>

I somehow managed to finish this, despite the half dozen or so clues that I filled in without really knowing why. Offers of enlightenment gratefully received. Across 1/4 IN POLE POSITION – I … Read more >>

This was very tough indeed.   I found the NW quadrant absolutely fiendish, but got there in the end.   Solving time, 67 minutes.    As in previous puzzles by Tees, this draws on very wide … Read more >>

I found this on the easy side – solving time, 11 mins. * = anagram  < = reversed ACROSS 1 WOLF RAM 5 C (HIS) EL(l)   his = the man’s   prison room = … Read more >>

Across 1 BE in (ANIMAL)* – LIMA BEAN. 10 MIDDLE-AGE SPREAD – I can’t decide if this is a cryptic definition or if there’s some aspect of the wordplay that I’m missing because … Read more >>

This took ages — Morph seems to be getting very difficult nowadays. This wasn’t helped by the fact that there were some answers that appear a bit tenuous, although it’s more likely that … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed Some very tricky, well disguised clues today. Mostly very good, but I thought 6 down was taking things a bit too far. Across 8 Japanese lantern: very convoluted but I … Read more >>

Only 24 clues here, which I think is about as few as it’s reasonably possible to have in a 15-by-15 crossword where the Ximenean edict of having no answers with more unchecked than … Read more >>

Nice puzzle from The Editor with an appropriate Nina for a puzzle that appeared the day after that amazing opening ceremony in Beijing: in the unchecked letters on the grid perimeter we see … Read more >>

This was a stiff challenge for a weekday I thought, particularly the right-hand side of the grid which was all but empty after my first attempt. Managed to chip away at it eventually, … Read more >>

Solving time, 18 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 Actor Kevin SPACEY – in a dreamy state (adj) – N American usage 5 SECOND    Double definition with split at Extra/time 8 HER(m)ITAGE        Tricky … Read more >>

Good puzzle, as always from Dac.   This one I found on the easy side esp bottom half of grid.    Solving time, 12 mins. * = anagram  < = reversed ACROSS 1 POS(t)ERS     Excellent … Read more >>

There was a different crossword in the paper to that on-line – see blog for no. 6809 for details. In a comment on that blog Eimi mentions that this is also a Virgilius puzzle, from … Read more >>

If you solved the online puzzle today then this post is going to be of no use to you because, as it says in a note under the printed version of the puzzle: … Read more >>