Independent

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 >>

A bit harder than the usual Dac, I found. Some of the bottom-half clues were peculiarly impenetrable, although in the end there was the usual satisfaction with Dac’s skills. Across 1 HIT THE … Read more >>

Some Virgilius themes leap out at you, others reveal themselves slowly. This puzzle was definitely in the latter category for me, although I expect it would have been quicker had I got 7/32 … Read more >>

A relatively easy puzzle from Math, with a few tricky clues in the lower part of the grid.    I was only able to get 23 across after I’d noticed that the extreme left … Read more >>

I raced through this puzzle much more quickly than usual for Phi. Then I hit the buffers with 11 and 13. I’m sure I’m missing something very simple. Across 1 RHODES SCHOLAR — … Read more >>

Dac is well-known amongst Indy solvers but we’re used to seeing him on a Wednesday so it was something of a surprise to see his name next to the Saturday prize puzzle. This … Read more >>

This was mostly not too difficult and great fun to solve, as always from Nestor but there’s one clue I couldn’t get (10d) and eventually had to concede defeat and look it up. … Read more >>

The usual pleasing, accessible, puzzle by Quixote – solving time, 17 mins. Notes on some clues below, happy to explain others if asked. * = anagram < = reverse ACROSS 11 THE GAY … Read more >>

Fastest Indy solve of the year so far for me, 13 mins. Unusually got many answers first from the definitions. Some excellent clues as always from Dac. * = anagram ACROSS 1 KIRS … Read more >>

Across 1 LATIN AMERICAN – (certain animal)*. This suggests the theme – all the across answers are Latin words, many of which have an American connection. I think this is all. 9 CAPITOL … Read more >>

There were some excellent clues in this, but I found it a little unbalanced in that I finished the across clues very quickly but was left with 6 down clues that I found … Read more >>

The usual pleasant offering from Phi, but one or two I can’t quite understand. Across 1 J UMP(ire). Expressing in the sense of throwing out. 3 DESPOTIC I’m pretty sure. Oppressive = despotic … Read more >>

This was the puzzle that almost never was. Due to be published on the 29th of December, it was nowhere to be found in the newspaper, much to the frustration of a number … Read more >>