Fifteensquared

Never knowingly undersolved.

Archive for the 'Independent' Category

Independent 7,452/Phi

Posted by Ali on 3rd September 2010

Ali.

This is the first puzzle I’ve had chance to do this week and, looking at the blogs, it looks as if I’ve landed on my feet drawing the Friday slot. Nothing too tricky here from Phi, and nothing less than excellent, elegant clueing. I thought there might be something going on in the outer unches when EQU appeared on the top row, but there’s nothing that I can see.

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Posted in Independent | 15 Comments »

Independent 7451/Nimrod

Posted by John on 2nd September 2010

John.

All this was far too difficult for me and if it hadn’t been for the reveal function I’m sure I’d never have finished, because there are still several that I can’t understand. The initial reaction is to say hmm… but perhaps they are devilishly cunning clues that simply go over my head. Let’s hope a few come to me while I’m doing the blog, otherwise this would be rather thin. Well not many did I’m afraid. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Independent | 19 Comments »

Independent 7450 by DAC

Posted by flashling on 1st September 2010

flashling.

Pretty easy and straightforward DAC today.

This was a bit rushed so there may a few typos.

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Posted in Independent | 20 Comments »

Independent 7,449 by Radian

Posted by Simon Harris on 31st August 2010

Simon Harris.

I’m a big fan of Radian’s puzzles, so was happy to see the name come up today. This was an enjoyable challenge, themed around 1ac.

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Posted in Independent | 18 Comments »

Independent 7448 by Mordred

Posted by nmsindy on 30th August 2010

nmsindy.

An excellent puzzle from Mordred.

It is themed on the TV sitcom Last of the Summer Wine (hereinafter LSW) which, after a record-breaking 37 years is coming to an end with the last episode shown yesterday, Sunday 29 August.      With that long record, it’s clearly a really popular and successful show.

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Posted in Independent | 14 Comments »

Independent on Sunday 1071 by Quixote – 22nd August 2010

Posted by Handel on 29th August 2010

Handel.

Morning all. An impressive grid this week with no fewer than eight 15-letter answers. These long answers were mostly presented as anagrams, and unpicking them all took some time. Our pick of the clues this week, though, goes to 19ac – a pleasing &lit.

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Posted in Independent | 4 Comments »

Independent 7441 by Scorpion (Saturday 21 August)

Posted by petebiddlecombe on 28th August 2010

petebiddlecombe.

Solving time: About 38 minutes says my copy, but I think this includes an arbitrary penalty for running out of patience and looking up the posssibilities for 5D, which was a bit poor on my part. Overall I thought it was a bit easier than the previous Saturday’s Anax puzzle, but only a bit. The fairly black outer edge had me watching out for some theme or a message in the grid, but I didn’t spot anything, which may be a cue for an egg on face moment.

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Posted in Independent | 11 Comments »

Independent 7446/Phi

Posted by John on 27th August 2010

John.

The usual excellent stuff from Phi. All the clues are neat (those that I can understand, anyway) and the whole thing is very satisfactory. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Independent | 9 Comments »

Independent 7445 by Anax

Posted by flashling on 26th August 2010

flashling.

My heart sank a bit when it was confirmed that it was Anax today after last Saturday’s offering. This is nowhere near that hard.

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Posted in Independent | 27 Comments »

Independent 7,444 by Dac

Posted by Simon Harris on 25th August 2010

Simon Harris.

Pretty tough today, I thought, especially the lower half of the grid. There were several references to things that I had never heard of, but after a bit of light research, everything adds up of course.

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Posted in Independent | 13 Comments »

Independent 7,443/Raich

Posted by Ali on 24th August 2010

Ali.

I was expecting a Virgilius after recent absences, so seeing Raich was a pleasant surprise. And a very pleasant puzzle it was too.

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Posted in Independent | 26 Comments »

Independent 7442 by Nitsy

Posted by NealH on 23rd August 2010

NealH.

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism
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Posted in Independent | 18 Comments »

Independent on Sunday 1070 by Quixote – 15th August 2010

Posted by Handel on 22nd August 2010

Handel.

Morning all. An enjoyable selection of clues here, with nothing to whinge about as far as we can tell. Seven down is the pick of the bunch IOHOs, a good example of the lean style of cluing that Quixote is able to achieve.

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Posted in Independent | 2 Comments »

Independent 7,435 by Anax (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 14/08/10)

Posted by Simon Harris on 21st August 2010

Simon Harris.

The recent decision to move the prize puzzle blogs to the Saturday has spared my blushes somewhat, as in all honesty this post could not have happened without the “cheat” button. Well, it could, but you’d be solving the bottom half of the grid for me, as it was almost entirely empty after a week of staring at it.

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Posted in Independent | 10 Comments »

Independent 7440 by Phi

Posted by flashling on 20th August 2010

flashling.

Finally got the chance to have a lunch break to do the blog, relatively straightforward I thought.
Across

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Posted in Independent | 14 Comments »

Independent 7,439 by Tees

Posted by Simon Harris on 19th August 2010

Simon Harris.

A characteristically challenging and inventive Tees puzzle, that was far too hard for me to complete in the time available. It feels like there’s a theme here, goddesses perhaps, though I can’t quite put my finger on it.

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Posted in Independent | 17 Comments »

Independent 7,438/Dac

Posted by Ali on 18th August 2010

Ali.

There’s never a chance of a bad (or even average) puzzle with Dac, but he does like to throw in the occasional tricky one. I came completely unstuck on the NW corner here, due in no small measure to my inability to spot the double definition at 1A. There were one or two other tricky clues and slightly more obscure words as well, but all perfectly fair.

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Posted in Independent | 12 Comments »

Independent 7437/Mordred

Posted by John on 17th August 2010

John.

All sorts of slightly odd things have occurred recently: Quite often Phi hasn’t been as usual on Fridays, although that is explicable because of the various anniversaries; Virgilius hasn’t appeared on Tuesday for a while — he must be on holiday — and now we have Mordred, one of the harder setters and usually confined to Thursdays or Saturdays I think, appearing on a Tuesday. Whatever next? Anyway this puzzle was quite accessible and my initial sinking feeling didn’t last long. One or two I’m not sure about, but no doubt … Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Independent | 31 Comments »

Independent 7436 by Quaiteaux

Posted by nmsindy on 16th August 2010

nmsindy.

Pleasing puzzle with some nice humorous  touches from Quaiteaux.   I found parts of it very easy, but then struggled a bit with the NW corner, tho my last two entries were 13A and 6D.  Solving time, 24 mins.  For technical reasons associated with the computer I’m working on today, I cannot access the solutions on the Indy website to verify.      If any are wrong, happy if someone can point that out.

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Posted in Independent | 16 Comments »

Independent on Sunday 1069 by Quixote – 8th August 2010

Posted by Handel on 15th August 2010

Handel.

Morning all, and welcome to our new Sunday slot. This was the usual mixture of clue types and for the most part went in fairly quickly. However, 1dn has defeated us – I’m sure it’ll be blindingly obvious as soon as someone puts us out of our misery! Assuming our other answers are all correct it’s T–H, and the clue is given below. Resolved now, thanks Q!

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Posted in Independent | 3 Comments »

Independent 7429 – Saturday Prize Puzzle (7 August 2010) by Bannsider

Posted by duncanshiell on 14th August 2010

duncanshiell.

This was another challenging crossword from Bannsider.

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Posted in Independent | 7 Comments »

Independent 7,434 by Eimi

Posted by Simon Harris on 13th August 2010

Simon Harris.

Aha. And there I was fully expecting a “Friday the Thirteenth”-themed Virgilius. Instead we have an Eimi puzzle themed around 1ac 10c, today being the one hundredth anniversary of her death. I found this a fairly quick solve, though harder towards the SE corner. A lot of the clues are very nice, I thought, with many weaving the theme in very smoothly.

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Posted in Independent | 25 Comments »

Independent 7,433/Nimrod

Posted by Ali on 12th August 2010

Ali.

I got nowhere fast with Nimrod’s recent wedding day puzzle, and I didn’t fair much better with this one, eventually resorting to the cheat button with about 60% done.

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Posted in Independent | 18 Comments »

Independent 7432/Dac

Posted by John on 11th August 2010

John.

The usual tightly-constructed crossword from Dac, with all the clues very simple once they’re got, but not always so easy beforehand. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Independent | 16 Comments »

Independent 7431 by Tyrus

Posted by flashling on 10th August 2010

flashling.

Tyrus today a relatively gentle introduction for me.

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Posted in Independent | 16 Comments »