Independent

Although there are one or two I’m not sure about, this was not one of Dac’s most difficult. Which doesn’t prevent it from being well up to his usual standard. Is there some … Read more >>

Another excellent themed puzzle from Virgilius, the theme becoming apparent to me only quite late on. The middle row is PARTS OF SPEECH and every row, sometimes in one word, sometimes reading across … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=rev. Very tough puzzle by Scorpion, I thought.   There were three I didn’t fully understand. Across 7  Mincer:  cryptic definition. 8  Heighten:  he + (the gin)* 9  Leo Minor:  Odd letters … Read more >>

As usual, an excellent puzzle from the ever-reliable Phi. Solving time, 21 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 (PIPPED) (AT THE POST) Tempted at first by the 15 letters after … Read more >>

Great pangrammatic puzzle from the Bulletprooof one. Not sure about 2 and 3 though. I think they’re both right but I can’t say why. Across 1 H in WORKSOP – I think the … Read more >>

I found this exceptionally easy – Solving time, 10 mins * = anagram ACROSS 7 CHARGE Double definition 8 G U I DANCE 9 HOUSEMAID’S KNEE Good cryptic definition 10 M1 D O … Read more >>

– Blog Number 1 from me, so first things first, hello! A puzzle of two halves for me. The bottom half went in fairly easily, but I came a bit unstuck on the … Read more >>

Across 1 PET,RA – an archeological site in Jordan and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Would “old city” been a fairer definition? 4 (GERMAN IS T)* – great clue, … Read more >>

Well not really; rather good, as I have come to expect from Punk. At first he seemed rather difficult and unsatisfactory, but increasingly nowadays I enjoy his well-constructed crosswords. Across 1 RHUBARB. There … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed The Independent continued its trend of trying out less well-known compilers for the Monday puzzle. Radian was another new compiler for me, although I don’t know if it’s actually a … Read more >>

The usual sound and enjoyable stuff from Phi – there don’t seem to be many novels here and I wonder if I’m missing anything. Across 9 TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, one of the four … Read more >>

Excellent puzzle from Morph with a theme that must be close to the heart of many a crossword solver: 10A. The ones I recognised were 4a,9a,27a,3d,4d,6d and 17d. I think I noticed what … Read more >>

I’ll have to admit defeat on this one. The two main features were a line of an Elton John song covering 5 clues and many clues linked to one word from it. When … Read more >>

I found this harder than usual – solving time 39 minutes. * = anagram ACROSS 1 CAR ACT (A CU) S Chieftain who fought the Romans in Britain Cu = copper 10 CON … Read more >>

Dac was described last week as a “class act” by a fellow blogger – I couldn’t agree more. Across 1 HAS,TEN – I briefly considered N for “mid-morning”. 10 IRAQI – I think … Read more >>