Azed gives us these every five years or so. The last (clue-setting competition one, anyway) was in October 2011. So far as I know it is his own idea and must be absolute hell to set. In case you didn’t see the preamble in the paper here it is: ‘Each clue contains a one-word definition of the word required at the number where it stands, but belongs as a whole to a word of the same length elsewhere….’ and he goes on to give some very helpful advice on how to go about solving such a puzzle.
John
Independent 9,304 by Hob
For some reason I didn’t really enjoy this a lot, although I can’t explain why: it is all reasonably sound and there are some quite good clues. It just seems a little clunky: few of the surfaces read very well; indeed, it is hard to think what some of them mean. And the clues are on the long side.
Perhaps it was just that it was rather difficult.
Apologies for the delay: as you may be aware, the site was inaccessible earlier this morning.
Definitions underlined and in maroon. (Something seems to have gone wrong: that was the intention, but in fact the definitions are in black and the answers are in maroon.)
Independent 9,299 by Daedalus
This is the first time that it has fallen to me to blog a crossword by Daedalus. The crossword Who’s Who says that his or her debut puzzle appeared only recently in the Independent. I looked back at what people had said and the reception seemed to be less than totally enthusiastic, but either Daedalus is learning or my standards are low (surely not!) because I found this to be a very pleasant solve with nothing there to encourage my Zoilist tendencies. Not totally easy — I see that I took rather a long time to solve it, but that’s just me I think.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.
Independent 9,294 by Vigo
When I saw that this was by Vigo I thought that something similar to what happened recently was going to take place: I was going to be blogging a crossword about which I was less than enthusiastic, while the great body of opinion was largely in favour. But no, on the first count, anyway. I’m very enthusiastic about this crossword, which seems to be to be just right for a daily cryptic: not too hard but not a gimme either, with some good clues and the whole thing a pleasant experience. Whether the great body of opinion will be largely in favour we have yet to see, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it is.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.
Independent 9,289 by Phi
The usual nice crossword from Phi today, with some excellent clues, such as 7ac and 1dn. I am a little unsure about 13dn, which will I’m sure be explained in due course.
Independent 9,280 by Scorpion
Scorpion is never all that easy, but this wasn’t too bad. There were still several clues that detained me, but apart from one or two minor quibbles, everything seems to be fair.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.
Independent 9,275 by Knut
There are two clues here that are as good as any you ever see.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.
AZED 2,299
As always Azed provides a masterclass in clueing: not always the most riveting surfaces or constructions, but everything utterly sound.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.
Independent 9,270 by Monk
As usual a good crossword from Monk today. His mistake (I assume, using the authority of Google) in 18ac is perhaps a slight blemish but otherwise there is the usual range of nice clues, some of them setting me back for longer than I would like. But we can’t all be speed solvers, can we.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.
Independent 9,265 by Phi
A Phi crossword of medium difficulty, I found, although it all seems perfectly straighforward now. The mark of a good setter, they say.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.
Independent 9,256 by Lohengrin
Most of this Lohengrin crossword is fine; indeed I suspect more than most of it is fine, but I’m bewildered by one or two of the clues, as I make clear I hope in the blog. There were some imaginative anagram and inclusion indicators — nothing wrong so far as I can see, simply unusual.
Independent 9,251 by Quixote
For some time this week I have been struggling to produce anything like a half-decent clue in a certain clue-setting competition. Yet Quixote, who sets several crosswords weekly, produces smooth and efficient clues that certainly look as if they are written easily. There is seldom any strain or ‘well, I’m not sure I’d have done that …’ at any point.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.
Independent 9,246 by Morph
Morph has given us his usual very sound and pleasant crossword. It was always my impression that Morph’s clues were on the wordy side, but I counted them (yes I really did, I have to admit) and the average word-length of each clue is only 7, which compares quite favourably with Dean Mayer’s last Sunday Times puzzle of 6.8. I had always thought that Dean’s clues were particularly pithy, but this one was not all that far behind. Anyway, perhaps it’s a bit silly to focus on length: quality is what it’s about, and there was plenty of quality here.
Independent 9,241 by Phi
A nicely-accessible Phi today. I had no major problems with it.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.
AZED 2,293
Nothing really to say. The usual excellent display of sound clue-setting from Azed. I can’t understand what is given in the paper and on the site as 33ac but is really 35ac, but no doubt someone will explain.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.