This was extraordinarily hard. In several places I’m not really sure what is happening and it seems to me that Donk has been less than accurate, but he has in the past produced quite excellent crosswords; perhaps he has done so this time: it may just be going over my head.
Independent
Independent 8982 / Quixote
Our first thoughts when we saw the puzzle was the rather odd looking grid – the same thoughts we had yesterday. This time however, there was no apparent reason for the fact that … Read more >>
Independent 8,981 / Hieroglyph
Hieroglyph is occupying this week’s Tuesday slot, with one of his themed puzzles for us to crack. Like the themed puzzle of his that I blogged on bird species, there are a couple … Read more >>
Independent 8980/mystery setter (update: it’s Raich)
Bonjour! Not quite sure what’s occurring here, because in the online version it was unnumbered and the compiler wasn’t shown. So I hope I’ve blogged the right puzzle on the right day. A … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1326/Commoner
I did enjoy this one, but there was some stuff in it which was certainly tricky for an IoS puzzle. Which is blogger-speak for ‘I can’t parse one or two’. … Read more >>
Independent 8973 by Rorschach (Saturday Prize Puzzle 18 July 2015)
So, how did you get on with this particular Rorschach test? Did you see a beautiful pattern; was there some deep psychological revelation; or was it a ‘blot’ on your week?! I found … Read more >>
Independent 8,978 by Phi
Phi’s usual nice crossword. He is good at making a clue not all that easy to solve; yet once one has done it and is looking back, it is often quite obvious. I found nothing controversial here, although I nearly elicited a whole lot of responses explaining how 16dn worked.
Definitions in italics.
Independent 8977 / Nestor
This was a good Thursday challenge from Nestor, with several clues that got the old grey matter working overtime. We had to check some entries which we had not come across before … Read more >>
Independent 8,976 / Dac
Dac has provided this Wednesday morning’s cruciverbal workout. For me, this was a typical Dac solve, as I worked my way through the clues, admiring their smooth surfaces and unambiguous parsings as I … Read more >>
Independent 8975 / Crosophile
Crosophile has given us a puzzle with a few entries that are not obscure, but neither are they in regular daily use, such as … SEAMSTERS, UNSWADDLE, EMBRASURE and NAUTILUS. A … Read more >>
Independent 8974/eXternal
A sound, workmanlike puzzle from eXternal. And I don’t mean to damn with faint praise when I say that. It was hard, though. The idea of the Monday Indy being the ‘easy’ one … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1325 Hypnos
Perhaps not as difficult (for an IoS puzzle) as in recent weeks. Thanks to Hypnos. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1 Local left in charge of a community (6) PUBLIC : PUB(one … Read more >>
Independent 8967 by Radian (Saturday Prize Puzzle 11/07/15)
A joint effort this week on the blog during a very busy week so if there are errors or omissions we won’t know who to blame. Joyce’s elderly father has not been well and … Read more >>
Independent 8972 / Phi
Another Friday, another Phi-day. It took us a little longer to get started on this one. No idea why – perhaps it was just one of those days. There’s one (4d) which we … Read more >>
Independent 8,971 / Klingsor
It is Klingsor’s turn to occupy the Thursday slot this week. I found this a really enjoyable solve, pitched at what I consider to be the appropriate level for a daily cryptic: far … Read more >>