nmsindy

A little tougher than usual from Quixote, I thought.   Solving time, 28 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 W EST B ENGAL   (wangle)*   est = established   B = British 8 L EARNER  L … Read more >>

An excellent puzzle from Nestor who I had the pleasure of meeting at Sloggers and Betters 5 in London last week. A bit easier than I expected – in particular I got some … Read more >>

Solving time, 19 mins. The usual pleasing puzzle. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 6 Margaret (D)RABBLE D = daughter 8 N A (S)T IVES 9 ST RAPPER 11 NA (RK) ED … Read more >>

I found this a bit tougher than usual from Quixote, solving time 28 mins. * = anagram ACROSS 1 PREMIS(E)S 6 B RAISE 9 CARDINAL WOLSEY    (so radically new)* 10 UNHEATED   a in … Read more >>

A joy to solve yet another excellent puzzle from Dac.    Solving time, 17 mins. * = anagram ACROSS 1 CAN OF WORMS     Double definition dividing elegantly at this/problem. First answer in the puzzle … Read more >>

Solving time, 16 mins * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 B(L)OG 3 AP PETITE pa< 8 DE C ODES ed< 10 (win)TER MINI 11 SUNDAY LUNCH (Lucy had nuns)* 14 (b)ARMY … Read more >>

There’s a Nina here which I refer to after the clue explanations. Solving time, 36 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 VIR(A)GO The clue wording at first suggested the other … Read more >>

Solving time, 16 mins * = anagram ACROSS 6 CAT (A) COMB 8 T U’S CAN    TU = trade union 9 GRINDSTONE   (Dinner’s got)* 10 Sir Anthony E DEN 11 SO (PH IS)T … Read more >>

Solving time, 19 mins * = anagram  < = reversal ACROSS 1 RE (GA)IN 4 CHASSEUR  (crushes a)* 9 MORE L 10 BAR BAD IAN 11 STE (AmsterdaM)ER 12 TEN DRIL   “drill” 13 … Read more >>

Hard as Nimrod usually is, solving time, 58 mins. Very hard to break into, but seeing 1 down was a breakthrough helping with the LHS of the grid. Never systematically counted but Nimrod’s … Read more >>

Great minds are still puzzling as to how Quixote has crossword 1002 in the 1000th issue of the paper which contained many articles and reminiscences to mark that occasion. The puzzle itself was … Read more >>

The standard excellent Quixote puzzle as it heads into the second thousand.   Solving time, 25 mins.     SW corner by far the hardest for me. * = anagram  < = reversed ACROSS 1 MI  … Read more >>

Another themed classic from Virgilius.    Every across answer is thematic. So are almost all the clues, which as usual are superb.   Some unusual words were forced in by the thematic requirements and Virgilius … Read more >>

A puzzle in the quirky and individual Merlin style.   Some gems.   I found it ranged from very easy indeed to extremely difficult, with the SW corner taking me much longer than the rest … Read more >>

Solving time, 19 mins. * = anagram < = reversed ACROSS 1 DA (GO) B A (a bad)< A type of Buddhist shrine found in Sri Lanka 4 OBJECT ED 9 RE MARKS … Read more >>