Independent 6300/Virgilius
Do my eyes deceive me or is this a theme-less puzzle from Virgilius? There’s the reference to the flags of the US and ex-Soviet Union at 1A and 26A but that’s all I … Read more >>
Everyman 3142 – crossword to cross swords with
Nelson (19D) was the admiral (22A) who led the Royal Navy in the Battle of Copenhagen (18A). Maybe I’ve teased out a theme here after all. Or is the theme golf (see 1A, … Read more >>
The Christmas break
We will hopefully be posting to the blog every day throughout the Christmas break except for the 25th – hangovers and other forms of over-indulgence permitting. In the meantime, I’d like to thank … Read more >>
Guardian 23951/Shed
Is it my imagination or do we not see Shed as often as we used to? He’s usually ranked at the harder end of the Guardian scale of difficulty but I never seem … Read more >>
Guardian 23,956 by Chifonie: Soup, stew or curry?
Not as hard as some Friday puzzles, but containing one or two relatively obscure words and sub-words with a capacity to frustrate. Took me about 20 minutes over a leisurely breakfast. A lot of clues … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 879 by Quixote – trouble in the SW corner
I thought this was going to be reasonably straightforward until I hit stormy weather in the SW corner (points covered in notes below). Solving time 34 mins (slower than usual for me for Quixote) … Read more >>
Independent 6298/Nimrod
Another one of “those” grids from Nimrod, with only 9 (count ’em) across clues and 5 of those have 15 letters. It’s been said before, here and elsewhere, that the problem with this … Read more >>
Independent Weekend #598 – SQUARES by JUDE
This is a sample review to show what you can expect in the New Year, when we hope to cover this puzzle every week. Jude is Mike Laws, editor of this puzzle. On … Read more >>
Guardian 23955/Taupi
Solving time approx 20 mins. I seem to remember the last Taupi was seriously tricky, but this one was OK. A lot of very clever and succinct clues that required a bit of … Read more >>
Independent 6297/Monk – Six wise Monks
Solving time: 11:36. Monk is one of my favourite Indie setters and today was another gem with clues as inventive and accurate as ever. Some difficult words – five I didn’t know (12, … Read more >>
Independent 6296/Dac
More quality cluemanship from Dac. Across 6 hidden in “riCE REAlly”. 10 O,I,GIRL< 11 YO,SEMITE – I guess this is a reference to George Bush’s infamous “Yo Blair!” comment. 12 (EACH HIPS)* 13 … Read more >>
Guardian 23,954/Quantum – CD hits a sour note
Solving time – 10 minutes – would have been under 5 if I’d realised what what was going on in the middle “column” of the grid. I started well with this one – … Read more >>
Coming Soon in 2007 – Independent Weekend Magazine Puzzle
From the New Year we will start to cover the advanced cryptic puzzles that appear on a Saturday in the Independent Weekend Magazine. These puzzles are edited by Mike Laws and are generally … Read more >>
Independent 6295 by Virgilius – F-words in the Indy!
Another amazing tour de force by Virgilius, whose weekly Indy puzzles usually have a theme. This time (1) all the sixteen perimeter cells contain the letter F (2) there are seven rows and seven … Read more >>
Guardian 23,953/Paul – What You See is What You Get
I thought that this puzzle was quite tough for a Tuesday morning, or maybe my brain is starting to wind down for the festive season. As usual. Paul demonstrated some clever wordplay, but … Read more >>