Independent

Unfortunately I’m not the best person to be blogging this, since I have never read anything by Philip Pullman, but Google always helps. Probably I’ve missed something. It seems that this is timed … Read more >>

This site was ringing with praise for Virgilius last week. This puzzle was another excellent example of why. A theme (as usual) reasonably obvious and which helped speed up solving at the end. … Read more >>

After a really tough puzzle by Tees last week, I was relieved to find this one was a little easier. I even had some time to read the paper (although most of the … Read more >>

The solution appears next to the puzzle!   Ask someone to cut it out or mask it.    I will not be solving it so no blog this week – anyone who wishes can step … Read more >>

Nice puzzle from The Editor with a theme that revealed itself in two parts for me: first, cities then Italian cities. Plaudits for getting so many in, especially when so many of them … Read more >>

I know next to nothing about horse-racing so once I’d twigged the theme I had to use Google to check a couple of answers that I got from the wordplay (1a and 28a). There are … Read more >>

An excellent puzzle, as usual, from this top setter. Solving time: 19 mins * = anagram  < = reverse ACROSS 4 H AND M (Clothes shop) AID 11 A LEX (Luthor – Superman’s … Read more >>

A St Andrew’s Day theme in the appropriate week. One or two tricky clues, but I found it fairly easy overall. Solving time: 16 mins. Notes on some clues below – happy to … Read more >>

Across 4 SCHNAPPS – cleverly done. A drunkard might pronounce “snaps” (pictures = shots) as SCHNAPPS. The literal reading works too. 10 D in LANG,RAVE – this was new to me but fairly … Read more >>

The usual brilliant crossword from Virgilius. His clues are consistently excellent, but there is nearly always a very clever theme, which is usually signposted by the fact that the grid is a bit … Read more >>

I found this very tough, although the Milton theme helped a lot if you were at all familiar with his work. My favourite clue was 25 – a superbly hidden anagram. Across 8 … Read more >>

In his blog yesterday, nmsindy was wondering why Phi had been moved from his usual Friday slot; this puzzle might provide an explanation… Across 8 A,(LIFE)* – I was all set to deride … Read more >>

Across 3 A,MB,U,LANCES – I hesitated a bit over this as I didn’t know that LANCE=move quickly but with A,MB,U and a definition of “hospital transport” there’s not much else it can be. … Read more >>

(For those that missed it, this is the completed grid of Independent 6582 by Virgilius. Thanks to Eimi for supplying the image)

Phi usually appears on Friday rather than today (Thursday).      Wondered if there was a date-specific reason for this, but cannot see a theme.    Quite an easy puzzle, I found.   Solving time, 15 mins … Read more >>