Never knowingly undersolved
A new (to me, at least) setter this week – were you driven ’round the bend’ by Bend?… I have to admit I am a prize-puzzle-tart, and don’t solve during the week, but … Read more >>
It wouldn’t be a proper Friday for Independent crossword solvers if there wasn’t a puzzle by Phi This was a fairly standard crossword from Phi. I didn’t see any obvious … Read more >>
Klingsor seems to be lumbered with me rather often nowadays. Not that this worries me. I’d be happy to blog his puzzles every time (apart from the odd holiday with some of the other setters) because he’s one of the best around. There is always the right level of difficulty for me: not too easy, but the surfaces are nice and everything is clear and sound; one can eventually solve his most intractable clues. I think.
Definitions underlined.
It’s Wednesday, it’s Dac – What else can we say? Another excellent puzzle! 1 Attack viciously? Proceed towards jail, having broken a rule wrongly (2,3,3,7) GO FOR THE JUGULAR GO FORTH (proceed … Read more >>
It has been a while since it has fallen to me to blog a Punk crossword, so I was rather looking forward to getting stuck into this one. And Punk certainly did not … Read more >>
A very nice puzzle from a compiler who is fairly new to the Indy. It was quite accessible but had some neat bits of misdirection and some well-hidden definitions, 11 down being my … Read more >>
The first IoS crossword of 2016, Raich as the setter, and my turn to solve and blog. Life is good. You can always rely on Raich to provide a good Sindy offering. A … Read more >>
As expected, we found this an enjoyable Saturday prize puzzle from Nestor, but we still can’t figure out part of the clue for 11across. We’re not sure about the relevance of the … Read more >>
Everything was going fine: the usual experience with Phi, rather slow to get started then, when once afloat, making steady progress so that it all seemed easy enough. And then I came up against 5dn. Having thought for a good while I abandoned myself to every variety of aids, still without success. After about half an hour I left it and returned about three hours later, when the answer was obvious. How often this happens. Of course ‘forbidding’ wasn’t a rather dodgy indicator of the omission of something; all perfectly sound.
As expected, a challenging Nimrod this Thursday with, in our humble opinion, a number of rather over-long, convoluted clues. However, when the true ingenuity of the puzzle was finally revealed, we forgave him. … Read more >>
It may well be a new year, but some things just don’t change, such as a Dac puzzle appearing in the Independent on a Wednesday. I found this a tad tougher than the … Read more >>
The first Independent Crosophile of 2016 is published today. This was a good example of a broadsheet cryptic crossword puzzle. There were no obscure words in the grid (except perhaps … Read more >>
The closing date for this puzzle was also postponed from the usual following Saturday until today, for obvious reasons. I was surprised not to spot anything thematic this week, despite the puzzle being … Read more >>
Firstly, best wishes for 2016 from me to everyone in the Fifteensquared community. Secondly, Chuffing Nora. If the concept of the Monday Indy puzzle being ‘the easy one’ started disappearing last year, … Read more >>
Another solid puzzle from Anax. This was not as hard as some I have seen from him which is just as well given how busy we all are at the moment. Only 6 answered … Read more >>