Independent

Another thematic tour-de-force from Virgilius; this time almost every clue or answer has a royal flavour to it. Across 8 BALMORALS – which is a type of brimless cap. I think I half-remembered that … Read more >>

Initially I thought this was going to be very easy. I got through most of the clues fairly quickly but then got hopelessly stuck on 8 across, 25 across and 24 down, some … Read more >>

Pirouetting into sight today is Phi with a puzzle containing some well-known (and not so well-known) ballets. Solving time: 20 Minutes, (plus a couple of Google checks for titles). Very enjoyable with the … Read more >>

Having just blogged Nimrod’s Thursday puzzle (6637) I can say that I found this one the easier of the two. I’m not really a big fan of long anagrams and I was lucky … Read more >>

Some clever grid construction here as one phrase appears twice in the grid and there’s a Nina too (see 5a below for an explanation). I found this quite hard going in places – … Read more >>

Some unusual words made this one a little harder for me than some recently from Quixote. Solving time, 21 mins Notes on some clues below, happy to explain others if asked. * = … Read more >>

The cryptic puzzle is here and the concise/simple puzzle is here. Each puzzle is currently a day late – so the one on the website right now is yesterday’s Virgilius. Prize puzzles will be published … Read more >>

This had everything you could ask from a daily cryptic from this top setter.   Excellent misdirection, great variety, and all with everyday words.  Flawless construction.  Solving time, 25 mins. * = anagram ACROSS … Read more >>

A tour de force from Virgilius. Somehow he has managed to get some reference to a topic that continues to increase in importance into every clue, either in the answer or in the … Read more >>

A solid puzzle by Glow-Worm, but I didn’t really understand the logic behind either of the 12 clues. Across 1 Curriculum Vitae: Cryptic def (possibly more of a reference to its latin meaning … Read more >>

A quick post – harder than usual from Phi with a theme – referred to after the clue explanations.  Solving time, 29 mins. < = reversed ACROSS 10 SHOO(t)    Definition = off! … Read more >>

Across 1 (MARIA FOLLOWING)*,E – WILLIAM OF ORANGE. “After the Reformation” is the anagram indicator so the capitalized R is more than a bit cheeky. 9 DUMB,FOUND – great definition (“stump”) but does … Read more >>

Looking at the grid before I started saw checking was low in some cases eg 2 in 5-letter words, 3 in 7-letters words so I suspected a theme.   Having solved it however, I … Read more >>

I found this one very straightforward. Solving time, 12 mins Some notes on clues below – happy to explain others if asked. < = reversed ACROSS 9 S (LIP) ON Don = put … Read more >>