Some excellent political satirising from Knut.
Independent 9753 / Hob
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 >>
Independent
Independent on Sunday 1,455 by Hoskins
A super puzzle and not an easy one. Thanks Hoskins.
Independent 9751 by Monk (Saturday Puzzle 13 January 2018)
After the recent smorgasbord of Christmas/festive thematic/Jumbo puzzles – on which I may have overindulged – it was nice to get back-to-basics with a good-old proper 15×15 cryptic with no extra trimmings, as … Read more >>
Independent 9750 / Phi
Friday is my Independent blogging day this week so it’s no surprise to find a Phi puzzle. It’s always fun to try and see if Phi has a theme in … Read more >>
Independent 9,749 by Crosophile
Apart from one or two little grumbles, referred to below, this was a pleasant crossword with some good clues. I was delayed for ages in the SE corner, resulting in an eventual resort to aids.
It strangely seems to be the case that in an awful lot of crosswords the first few clues (in this case four) have the definition at the beginning.
Definitions underlined in maroon. Anagram indicators in italics.
Independent 9748 / Eccles
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 >>
Independent 9,747 / Radian
Radian has provided today’s crossword for our delectation. After all the tough cruciverbal challenges of the festive season, I was glad to come up against this puzzle, which involved far less head-scratching but … Read more >>
Independent 9746/Vigo
If the editor has decided to continue in 2018 with the tradition of an accessible puzzle in the Monday Indy slot, then he has chosen well here. A very pleasing cryptic from Vigo … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,454 by Nitsy
Haven’t bumped into Nitsy for a while. This was classic Sunday stuff: great fun from start to finish, nothing especially controversial and one or two things to learn along the way, such as … Read more >>
Independent 9745 / Serpent
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 >>
Independent 9,744 by Phi
Sorry, rather late again. I spent too much time in the small hours listening to the cricket and as a result it was suddenly 8.25.
The usual nice crossword from Phi. Uncontroversial I think, and all seemed to be easy enough, at any rate in retrospect (although I realised afterwards that I’d forgotten to do that nine holes answer, which is what it almost certainly was although I’d never heard of it). But this is not to say that at the time of solving it wasn’t as much of a challenge as it always is.
Independent 9743 / Tees
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 >>
Independent 9,742 / Hoskins
Hoskins has been quite prolific of late and has provided this first Wednesday challenge of 2018. I found this to be a medium-difficulty puzzle, less taxing than some of Hoskins’ recent offerings. My … Read more >>
Independent 9741 / Punk
Punk sets the first Tuesday Independent of 2018 The theme is defined by the gateway entry at 22 across – UNDERGROUND. There were nine London UNDERGROUND stations in the grid. … Read more >>