Never knowingly undersolved
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism Entertaining puzzle by Eimi that mentions a couple of composers, although I don’t know if there is meant to be some hidden theme there. … Read more >>
Many congratulations to Rufus on this his 1,000th puzzle! Across 1 THEBES: almost THE BES(t) 5 SET ASIDE: SEASIDE around T (end of augus(T)) 9 DEMERARA: anagram of RARE and MADE 10 OTTAWA: … Read more >>
Quite an easy outing this time with a few intra-Eye references and pet names, particularly several uses of Brenda for ER, and of course lots of botty humour. Across 1 DISRAELI (DAILIES [labou]R)* … Read more >>
A puzzle of two halves, I found: I whizzed though about two-thirds very quickly and without aids, then struggled rather more to finish it off. As promised, I’ve done this blog in the … Read more >>
I struggled with this puzzle when I first tried it, though getting enough down answers to guess that they all had one or more Bs missing. Then I left it for a couple … Read more >>
Plenty of anagrams this week particularly in the down clues (I count 10 clues containing at least a part anagram). Since these are often the easiest to spot, it should have been quite … Read more >>
The preamble seemed quite straightforward, no extra letters etc in the wordplay just the possible modification of six across answers and twelve down ones before entering them in the grid. I started with … Read more >>
The usual from Falcon, elegant and not too taxing. One new word for me, at 24A, nothing too obscure otherwise. The parsing for 27A is foggy still, help invited. // 27A updated. Across … Read more >>
Solving time: 14 mins I don’t think I’ve ever finished a crossword having understood so few of the solutions! It took me at least as long again to fathom them all out. As … Read more >>
A very enjoyable one here. I had expected to say that I found this a bit easier than usual for a Tees, but then I started to struggle towards the end. Still, here … Read more >>
A quite quick second appearance for Bonxie this year, considering we had only four of his / her puzzles last year [thanks, Andrew!]. There was nothing too taxing – some ingenious clues and … Read more >>
My ongoing quest to complete a whole Beelzebub unaided led to a full grid, yet with a couple of silly errors. Still, a good week and always a pleasure to work out the … Read more >>
Samuel is a setter I have come across in The Listener and Magpie as well as here in the Inquisitor series. I have always enjoyed his puzzles. This was no exception. Like all … Read more >>
As I only blog Independent puzzles once a month, I don’t have a great deal of experience of individual setters. A little research though shows that I have solved Bannsider’s puzzles before as … Read more >>
A nice puzzle from Morph with some great cryptic definitions and humourous touches, as appears to be his wont! I found the NW corner very hard, but overall a very satisfying solve. Across … Read more >>