Guardian 27,858 / Paul

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Paul makes his customary weekly appearance on Thursday, since he filled the Prize slot last Saturday. It’s a fairly typical mixed bag, with some straightforward clues to help get us started, together with … Read more >>

Independent 10,204 by Dalibor

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Dalibor is a fairly recent setter for the Indy and he is clearly worth his place there: this crossword, like its predecessors, contains some very good clues with nice misleading surfaces.  And, apart from the next comment and a few very minor quibbles, they are all so far as I can see sound and good.

There are four clues which grate on me because they have <50% checking.  I don’t know why this is such a bugbear — I always comment on it — since when you’re solving a clue early on you may have only one of the many letters there to help you, so why 2 out of 5 is such a problem I’m not sure: presumably it’s because Ximenes gave it as a “rule” in his famous book. At any rate no Times crossword (for many people the gold standard, whatever their views on Murdoch) ever has <50% checking.

Definitions underlined, in maroon. Anagram indicators in italics.

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