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Bertandjoyce's avatarBertandjoyce

There was a tradition in both our families of solving Telegraph concise and cryptic crosswords. During our student days we moved on to the Observer. When we could afford a daily, we enjoyed the Guardian cryptics until the Indy arrived on the scene. Nowadays, Saturdays are not complete without the Inquisitor in the i paper. We never time ourselves but we do feel cheated if we finish quickly and really enjoy seeking out themes and ninas etc. We are now retired and when time allows, we supplement the daily Indy solve with the on-line Guardian cryptic, Genius and the occasional Quiptic. Finding fifteensquared was a revelation – we realised we are not alone in our attempts to stave off Alzheimer’s!

Independent 9762 / Phi

Fri January 26, 2018 at 8:07 am by Bertandjoyce

Another end to the week and another Phi to solve. However, we still have some of this week’s Indy puzzles yet to solve as the Inquisitor crossword in the i newspaper last Saturday … Read more >>

Categories Independent 9 Comments

Independent 9753 / Hob

Tue January 16, 2018 at 7:59 am by Bertandjoyce

A  tour de force offering from Hob today which really had our brain cells in overdrive.   A number of the clues had really good surfaces – 3d deserves a mention but 27 … Read more >>

Categories Independent 12 Comments

Independent 9748 / Eccles

Wed January 10, 2018 at 8:07 am by Bertandjoyce

A fun mid-week work-out with Eccles this week.   There seems to be a lot of dumping going on here, although we don’t really think this is a theme as such – is … Read more >>

Categories Independent 10 Comments

Independent 9745 / Serpent

Sat January 6, 2018 at 8:25 amSat January 6, 2018 at 7:45 am by Bertandjoyce

Another pleasing puzzle today from Old Snake Hips (as Hoskins calls Serpent). We’ve blogged the last two Serpent offerings so he may be getting a bit fed up with us. However, we are … Read more >>

Categories Independent 11 Comments

Independent 9743 / Tees

Thu January 4, 2018 at 8:03 am by Bertandjoyce

A really good challenge from Tees today.   All very sound clues – we particularly liked 17ac and 29ac for their neat surfaces. Across 9   21’s 23 for 14 animal’s resting-place? (3,6) … Read more >>

Categories Independent 17 Comments

Guardian Genius no. 174 / Soup – December 2017

Sun December 31, 2017 at 12:01 am by Bertandjoyce

The Instructions: In each clue the wordplay indicates an extra letter, not required for its solution. These extras letters in clue order spell out an instruction as to how a number of solutions … Read more >>

Categories Guardian Genius 32 Comments

Independent 9738 / Phi

Fri December 29, 2017 at 8:43 amFri December 29, 2017 at 8:08 am by Bertandjoyce

Phi’s back to Phiday this week!         At first sight, we couldn’t find a theme or nina, but then Joyce noticed that Phi’s challenge in this puzzle was to mirror … Read more >>

Categories Independent 13 Comments

Independent 9730 / Serpent

Tue December 19, 2017 at 8:06 am by Bertandjoyce

A classic Serpent puzzle to liven up a Tuesday – and our second Serpent blog in two weeks!   He’s definitely on the money today! We only tumbled to the theme when we … Read more >>

Categories Independent 13 Comments

Independent 9725 / Hoskins

Wed December 13, 2017 at 8:02 am by Bertandjoyce

Yet another Hoskins greets us today!   We found this to be at the easier end of the Hoskins scale, but what a pleasure to solve! Plenty of time to marvel at the … Read more >>

Categories Independent 18 Comments

Independent 9720 / Serpent

Thu December 7, 2017 at 8:09 am by Bertandjoyce

Quite a challenge from Serpent today, which took us a while to get into.   There is a well-constructed literary theme based on two 5ds and their major works, which, as we found … Read more >>

Categories Independent 18 Comments

Independent 9716 / Punk

Sat December 2, 2017 at 7:44 am by Bertandjoyce

A highly entertaining, tough challenge from Punk today.   It took us a while to get into the puzzle and there were a number that we guessed from the crossing letters before we … Read more >>

Categories Independent 4 Comments

Independent 9715 / Phi

Fri December 1, 2017 at 7:53 am by Bertandjoyce

We cannot believe that it is time for us to blog a Phi again – where does the time go these days?   We found this a fairly straightforward solve which was very … Read more >>

Categories Independent 5 Comments

Independent 9706 / Radian

Tue November 21, 2017 at 8:07 am by Bertandjoyce

An enjoyable challenge for a Tuesday from Radian this week.     Regulars will be aware that Tuesdays are often ‘Theme Day’ and this was no exception. We were looking for a nina … Read more >>

Categories Independent 10 Comments

Independent 9701 / eXternal

Wed November 15, 2017 at 8:02 am by Bertandjoyce

eXternal takes the mid-week slot this week – an enjoyable, fairly straightforward solve.   There are no particularly unusual words in the grid and all the definitions and wordplay are clear enough – … Read more >>

Categories Independent 7 Comments

Independent 9696 / Klingsor

Thu November 9, 2017 at 11:42 amThu November 9, 2017 at 8:07 am by Bertandjoyce

As expected, a fairly tough challenge from Klingsor today.   Having said that, when we came to write up the blog, we wondered why we had any problems – all the clues are … Read more >>

Categories Independent 13 Comments
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