Independent

Tough: Solving time: 34 mins * = anag < = reversed ACROSS 1 DE (BRIe) EF   Feed< 5 POL(IT)ICe 9 FR (l)ITTERED Excellent 10 Oliver TWIST Ditto 12 BOS (TO)NIAN 25 LEV (IATH) … Read more >>

Across 1 PIP in BLOWE(r) 5 TOLD,DO – not a phrase I’d ever come across before but not a tricky one to get from the wordplay. 9 (TELE(-v)ISED)* 10 SILVER – SLIVER with … Read more >>

The usual excellent offering by Quixote. Solving time: 20 mins * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 COUSCOUS Cousin “less in” “repeatedly” “On account of” seems to be a link, which is … Read more >>

I managed most of this pretty quickly but there were two answers (10A and 3D) that I filled in because I don’t like leaving blank spaces and these were the only words I … Read more >>

Across 1 A,CAN in VT 9 TO,FORE in LA (all reversed) – the much-mocked national carrier AEROFLOT. Excellent clue with a great surface. 11 TRADE,SCANT,AI< – last one in. I saw TRADE (for … Read more >>

Solving Time: 18 mins  Due to my odd sleeping patterns with my illness, I get to solve most of the daily puzzles, and I came to Virgilius after tackling The Guardian, Times and … Read more >>

Some original ideas in quite a tough puzzle – held up by the 22-letter entry along the top and the 13-letter one in the first column. Solving time: 30 mins * = anagram … Read more >>

Fairly easy puzzle from Nimrod, although getting the 3 long down clues early on definitely helped. Across 3 WAS< in WARP,ACT – “pervert”is a verb here, rather than a noun. 8 SCOREBOARD – … Read more >>

Very entertaining puzzle from Monk. Of course, it wouldn’t be Monk with a Nina of some sort and I spotted this one once I solved 17/18/19A – the unchecked letters in the top … Read more >>

Some unusual features in this. Solving time: 30 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 A W(i)RY Thought of ‘awry’ as a possibility from the start, but took much longer to confirm through the … Read more >>

Solving Time: 23 mins    A nice puzzle for a Thursday from Punk.  I really liked the big clue at 8/12 several of the other answers.  Fairly large smattering of cryptic defs today … Read more >>

This turned out to be a nightmare puzzle for me. I’m too busy at work preparing to take a break and so I didn’t find the space to do this puzzle justice. Some … Read more >>

Another wonderful thematic puzzle from Virgilius.    All the across entries are synonyms, as explained in the last down clue (26 down). Solving time: 24 mins * = anagram ACROSS 7 GAMMON   Double … Read more >>

Probably the easiest Mass puzzle I’ve solved (and definitely the easiest I’ve blogged). There were some really good clues in this but, again, I don’t think much of the cryptic definitions and I … Read more >>

Good quality puzzle from Phi with a handful of great anagrams. One clue has left me foxed. I think the grid was pangrammatic too. Across 8 DIPSOMANIA — (I SIP ON MAD)* + … Read more >>