Independent

Solving time: 28 mins A jolly little puzzle from Tees with lots of contemporary references. I suppose I still think in old-fashioned crosswordese, but the Indy has certainly brought puzzles into the 21st … Read more >>

I found this much tougher than usual from Quixote. Solving time, 43 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 ME A LIE Very inventive. 5 CRACK UP Double definition 9 STEW … Read more >>

I solved most of this online early this morning without knowing who the setter was. I thought it seemed a little easier than recent offerings from Dac – with quite a few double … Read more >>

The usual wonderful Virgilius themed around one of our favourite activities. Every one (although perhaps 30 is stretching it a bit) of the across answers is in some way connected with crosswords. I … Read more >>

I found this quite hard as birds, along with trees, are not a strong point with me. I’d never heard of a 13, a 14 or a 16 but eventually got them from … Read more >>

All but three or four seemed to be the usual pleasant accessible Phi crossword, but then I became totally stuck on 11dn, 21dn perhaps, 22dn perhaps and 25ac, and eventually I had to use various … Read more >>

Great puzzle from this highly consistent setter with a mini-theme I would never have spotted if fellow blogger nmsindy hadn’t sent me the following: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/irish/7380607.stm 6 and 12 aren’t blogged but are part … Read more >>

I found this very tough, despite a quick start. Still not sure about 8 and 11 though. Across 1 MUGGLE in S,D – in the Harry Potter books, a MUGGLE is someone who … Read more >>

Solving time, 17 mins * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 8 CHAT EAU (water in French) 9 A (GAIN) ST ST = saint = good person 10 O N ICE 11 DISFAVOUR … Read more >>

Solving time:  15 mins A nice enjoyable puzzle from one of the Indy’s stable of fine setters.  Several really excellent clues including 14 across, 17 down (hope he doesn’t sue!) and 23 across. … Read more >>

This was the first time I’ve encountered Merlin, and I found it a stiff (but satisfying) challenge. There were some easy ones which got me started, but I then needed to make a … Read more >>

I found this a very unusual crossword, much tougher than usual (perhaps scheduled because of the Bank Holiday).    I spent 47 mins at it, but did not solve it, not getting 23 ac … Read more >>

One of the things that struck me when I was solving this entertaining puzzle is how heavily my solving “technique” (if that’s not too poncey) involves working off of definitions and checking letters, … Read more >>

A fairly gentle end to the week I thought. The grid seemed quite heavy on the black squares, and there are a number of long answers (most notably 7/3/16/11) which fill a fair … Read more >>

I found this reasonably easy (for a Nimrod) although I couldn’t get 26 and didn’t fancy guessing it either. I spotted the Nina with the grid half full though so filling in the … Read more >>