Independent puzzles online – an update
Good news for those of you wanting to try the Independent cryptic – puzzles are now available online on the same day as they appear in the newspaper (Saturday puzzles are still a … Read more >>
Independent 6656 / Phi – Fairly straightforward
Solving time: 12 minutes After yesterday’s tough Nimrod, and a generally tricky week all round in most papers, this made a nice change with a straightforward Phi challenge. 4ac was a bit of a tease … Read more >>
Guardian 24312/Brummie
Solving time – 17:05 This started out fairly straightforward and I made good progress, thinking I was going to finish inside 10 minutes for a while. Then I got stuck in two places, … Read more >>
Independent 6651/Nestor
I found this very tough but a thoroughly enjoyable solve. Lots of great clues (my personal favourite is 12a), and a very clever touch at 19 and 20d. I’m still unsure about 17a, … Read more >>
Inquisitor 58 – EVE by Schadenfreude
The preamble to the puzzle indicated that it included 12 unclued entries, four of which (11a, 35a, 22d and 24d) would represent a recent sequence in the correct order. Four pairs of the … Read more >>
Guardian 24311/Quantum
Too many cryptic definitions for my taste. The answers I’ve not blogged are probably CDs. Quantum’s best clues here are the short simple clues rather than the CDs. * = anagram < = … Read more >>
Independent 6655/Nimrod
I found this very tough but fun. There are still a few clues that I don’t fully understand though – 10a, 25a,27a and 18d. There’s also a Valentine’s Day Nina in the unchecked … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 939 by Quixote (10 Feb 2008)
Not too difficult a puzzle, I thought. Solving time, 15 mins. All the four 15-letter entries were direct anagrams. Notes on some clues below – happy to explain others if asked. ACROSS 1 … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,681 by Falcon
I do not recall coming across Falcon before and am almost sure I have not done a Weekend FT puzzle by this compiler. I found this particular one very easy which is a … Read more >>
Independent 6654/Dac
As usual from Dac, very efficient pleasant clues with good surfaces. Across 1 dropPED LARge. A well-concealed hidden, which was one of the last I did. 9 A(S)LOPE I think. I only have … Read more >>
Guardian, 24310/Araucaria
A toughie for my first blog – I’ll be busy most of the day so I’m posting this early. I’ve filled in the grid and everything looks more or less right, but I’m … Read more >>
Independent 6653 by Virgilius
Another superb themed puzzle from Virgilius, with the usual crop of outstanding clues, wonderful surface readings and many a smile raised. Solving time: 21 mins. The theme is phrases with the abbreviation PC. … Read more >>
Guardian 24,309 – Brendan : “Don’t bring me down”
I don’t have a lot of time this morning, so it was convenient that I got most of this quite quickly. Lots of long solutions, with lots of falling, dropping and coming to … Read more >>
Financial Times 12,689 (Highlander)
Across 1 POTATO: PO + TAT + O 4 TAKES OFF: double definition 9 ELATED: ALE (reversed) + TED 10 COMPOSED: double definition 12 CRUSADER: CRU + anagram of READS 14 NEATER: N … Read more >>
Guardian 24308/Rufus – must be Monday
Too many cryptic definitions (albeit one or two are rather good) and anagrams. Which means this was a fairly typical Rufus of a Monday morning. Across 9 MO,HAWK – nice clue. Brit docs … Read more >>