Independent

Solving time: 55 minutes (including 35 minutes of staring at a blank grid) I nearly had a relapse with today’s puzzle.  It felt odd because usually with Virgilius, I can wade  in, savour the … Read more >>

My first blog and I’m relieved to get off the mark with no problems! Particularly as I found Monday’s Mass unnervingly hard going! Today’s crossword a good mix of anagrams, homophones and double … Read more >>

A new name for the Independent but one our regular readers will certainly recognise! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crossword attributed to more than one setter before, although the Guardian does … Read more >>

Mass is the only one of the setters, there when I first tackled the Indy, who still sets in the daily paper, though he appears less often.     His puzzles were among the hardest with great skill … Read more >>

Solving time: about 38 minutes. Timing is a bit rough – I was traversing London by train and tube, and there were various interruptions for changes. There is some kind of theme here, … Read more >>

Solving time: 22 minutes After a short stay as a guest of the NHS, I came out with the prospect of a long rest and recuperation period with the anticipation of being able … Read more >>

Not quite as easy as some recent puzzles in this series, but all clear in the end. Solving time: 21 mins ACROSS 1 GE(R)T RUDE R = King Queen Gertrude of Denmark, mother … Read more >>

Solving time: 30’ (except for DIAZEPAM) This is my first Independent blog and I’m lucky I got Dac who I’ve done a few times and found him quite amenable with nothing too subtle … Read more >>

When Eimi indicated on this Board that Virgilius, whose themed puzzles appear on Tuesdays, was moving to Wednesday this week, I was pretty sure we would get a themed puzzle for the day.     I … Read more >>

A new setter, I think, and a welcome one. This was a very enjoyable crossword with some excellent witty cluing including a few that might not appeal to Ximenean purists. Morph got a … Read more >>

There was a lot to admire in this puzzle but I can’t say that I enjoyed it that much. I found it a bit of slog and I filled in too many (for … Read more >>

A trickier than usual puzzle from Phi, which is to be expected for a Saturday. A few words I didn’t know but the wordplay is as fair ever so they weren’t too tricky … Read more >>

A nice puzzle from Mr Friday-but-also-occasionally-Saturday. Across 1 HR in COME – “on the contrary” here indicates that you should do the reverse of what is indicated by the wordplay. Nice clue, reads … Read more >>

Sometimes you can be lucky with a puzzle – the words are familiar or you quickly see how most things work and go through it fast. This happened me with this one to … Read more >>

No major problems with this, which had some clever ideas. Solving time:    12 mins (fast for me)  * =  anagram ACROSS 1  BUCK    Double definition 11 SHAM (BL) E      BL was British Leyland 12 Martin … Read more >>