Never knowingly undersolved
Solving time: about 14 mins + a bit of guesswork on 1dn, which I got wrong. The three starred clues, of which two were fairly straightforward despite being clued without definition, led to … Read more >>
I found this really difficult but never frustratingly so. There seemed to be just right mix of easy clues to get you started and tough ones to stop you getting too cocky. I … Read more >>
I found this puzzle incredibly easy, for me, for a Friday, and for Phi. I usually start my crossword on the train from Newcastle to Durham and then pick the paper up later … Read more >>
Not quite sure how to summarise this puzzle. It was fairly easy, even if some of the references and definitions are not immediately obvious, and, for the most part, the clues made sense. … Read more >>
Solving time 2-3 hours I joked with Loonapick a couple of weeks ago that even-numbered Indies were easy and odd-numbered ones hard. Not now, with last week’s Offa’s Dyke marathon and this (for … Read more >>
This was my slowest Quixote solve of 2007 – contains some good stuff as set out below. Solving time: 34 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 B(AIL)IFF Jointly with 5 down, my favourite … Read more >>
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 >>
Solving time: 55’ Humbling. Stared at this for 5 minutes before DRESDEN dropped. The football “club” theme came to mind after another 5 minutes of frustration. At first I thought Premier League but … 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 >>
For a while I thought I was going to go sub 5 minutes on this puzzle, but in the end there’s one left that I can’t get. I got the two 15-letter downs … 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 >>
There’s usually (always?) a theme from Breandan, and a rather clever one in this case. The six-letter downs in top left and bottom right are all three letter words doubled, and the eight-letter pairs … Read more >>
As usual with Rufus cryptic definitions abound. There are no fewer than 6 straight CDs in this puzzle with a fair number of punning definitions playing a part in other clues. I’m not … 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: 10 minutes, one mistake (7 dn). This felt a cavalier solve, with numerous across clues to which I didn’t look closely at the wordplay while solving (e.g. 1, 11, 14, 18, … Read more >>