NealH

I've been doing crosswords off and on since university back in the 1980s. I used to do the Guardian, but defected to the Independent a year ago. My solving standard is still not what I'd like. I'd love to be able to knock off a crossword in 10 minutes, but find I'm still getting stuck for long periods when the inspiration doesn't quite arrive. I once had a go at compiling crosswords but, after a very rude rejection for the editor of the Telegraph, I didn't bother any further.

Independent 10,416 by Italicus

Mon March 2, 2020 at 9:00 am by NealH

A puzzle full of intricate wordplay from Italicus.

Independent 10,398 by Kairos

Mon February 10, 2020 at 9:00 am by NealH

I found this a mixture of easy and tricky clues.

Independent 10380 by Tees

Mon January 20, 2020 at 9:00 am by NealH

Some very smooth surface readings from Tees today.

Independent 10,362 by Gila

Mon December 30, 2019 at 10:28 pmMon December 30, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

A solid if unspectacular puzzle with just one Brexit reference to see us into the New Year.

Independent 10,345 by Filbert

Mon December 9, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

An excellent puzzle with some great surface definitions.

Independent 10,327 by Poins

Mon November 18, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

Enjoyable and for the most part undemanding Monday crossword.

Independent 10,309 by Tees

Mon October 28, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

A very enjoyable puzzle with not much to criticise.

Independent 10,291 by Poins

Mon October 7, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

A puzzle of medium difficulty to start the week.

Independent 10,273 by Tees

Mon September 16, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

Independent 10,255 by Punk

Mon August 26, 2019 at 2:44 pmMon August 26, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

Independent 10,237 by Kairos

Mon August 5, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

I thought this was an excellent puzzle with just the right level of cultural references.

Independent 10,219 by Phi

Mon July 15, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

A well crafted puzzle by Phi of very high quality. This was much more accessible than last Monday’s puzzle (no obscure bands, at any rate) but still required a lot of careful thought to decrypt all the clues.

Independent 10,201 by Tees

Mon June 24, 2019 at 9:09 am by NealH

A fairly typical Tees puzzle with a nice mixture of clues and some snippets of general knowledge thrown in.

Independent 10,183 by Knut

Mon June 3, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

I found this a tough puzzle to get started with. There was an interesting variety of clues and you often had to break the clue down to atomic level to work out the parsing.