Independent – Page 283 – Fifteensquared

Independent 8893 / Nestor

Thu April 16, 2015 at 6:03 pmThu April 16, 2015 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

Nestor is an irregular contributor to the Independent weekday series. He is more often seen at weekends. This was a puzzle I returned to a few times before I cracked … Read more >>

The usual thing: every clue has a silky-smooth surface that never compromises the parsing. I thought this was on the hard side for a Dac and it took me some while to understand one or two, particularly 23ac, which I almost gave up on, but my parsing is I think what he intended, although perhaps it is on the edge compared with Dac’s usual.

Independent 8891 / Crosophile

Tue April 14, 2015 at 8:04 am by Bertandjoyce

Crosophile appears once a month but doesn’t have a regular slot in the week, unlike other some other compilers. His last puzzle which we also blogged, seemed to divide opinion but we don’t … Read more >>

Independent 8890 by Monk

Mon April 13, 2015 at 9:00 am by NealH

*=anagram [] = removed e.g. char[m]=char ()=abbreviation e.g. A(mpere)=a Hom. = homophone I finished most of this quite quickly but then took a while winkling out the last few clues such as 14 … Read more >>

Independent on Sunday 1,311 by Poins

Sun April 12, 2015 at 9:30 am by Simon Harding

The usual high quality, enjoyable puzzle from Poins, if perhaps a little tougher than some, at least for me. The crossing 11 down and 16 across were last in: not being in any … Read more >>

Independent 8883 by Tees (Saturday Prize Puzzle 4 April 2015)

Sun April 12, 2015 at 9:22 pmSat April 11, 2015 at 12:01 am by mc_rapper67

An interesting mental tussle with Tees – with a variety of cultural references, from a South African golfer to Dante, via the slopes of K2 and a couple of secret police forces…hopefully not giving … Read more >>

Independent 8888 / Phi

Fri August 2, 2019 at 10:43 amFri April 10, 2015 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

There was one entry I haven’t come across before, but otherwise everything else covered reasonably common words or phrases. Inevitably with Phi there was a theme. Today we had MARVIN … Read more >>

Independent 8,887 by Radian

Thu April 9, 2015 at 10:23 am by John

A very nice Radian puzzle of I think a nice level of difficulty. I say ‘I think’ because I only have an impression, my actual time not meaning much. At the moment I have a strange pain in my right thumb when I try to write, which forces me to write left-handed, which is wonderful, like being a small child again, but incredibly slow, and when I have to write the letters down to get an anagram it takes ages.

Independent 8886 – Dac

Wed April 8, 2015 at 8:05 am by Bertandjoyce

After Dac’s impressive April 1st puzzle last week, it’s back to the smooth surfaces and straightforward clueing we have come to expect on a Wednesday. If you completed last week’s Dac and only looked … Read more >>

Independent 8,885 / Hieroglyph

Tue April 7, 2015 at 8:22 am by RatkojaRiku

The Tuesday slot this week is filled by Hieroglyph, whose puzzles I have hitherto had little experience of either solving or blogging. Having spotted the grid’s perimeter, I wondered if we were in … Read more >>

Independent 8884/Punk

Mon April 6, 2015 at 7:30 am by Pierre

I haven’t blogged a Punk puzzle in ages, so I was pleased to see Mr Halpern’s moniker at the top of the crossword this morning. In Another Place, as Paul, the setter has … Read more >>

Independent on Sunday 1310/Commoner

Sun April 5, 2015 at 12:01 am by Pierre

Took me ages to get going with this one; I’m putting it down to having to put the clocks forward and my brain therefore not being in gear on this Sunday morning. Some … Read more >>

Independent Saturday Prize Crossword 8877 by Klingsor 28/03/15

Sat April 4, 2015 at 2:25 pmSat April 4, 2015 at 6:30 am by Bertandjoyce

We started off very quickly with both of us solving 1AC as soon as we looked at the clue. Despite the setter, we wondered if we might be in for an easy solve. … Read more >>

Independent 8,882 by Phi

Fri July 19, 2019 at 8:41 amFri April 3, 2015 at 9:56 am by John

Every Friday we have the same thing, a very satisfactory and pleasant crossword from Phi, with few if any points of controversy. Initially, when I saw the answer ‘raindrop’ I thought Phi was balancing out all those rock music Ninas we so often have, by having nicknames of pieces of music, possibly just by Chopin, but either he is, and I am ignorant, or this was a false lead.

As usual with Phi for some reason, I was slow to start but then made steady progress.

Independent 8881 / Knut

Thu April 2, 2015 at 4:58 pmThu April 2, 2015 at 7:43 am by Bertandjoyce

This is only the third Knut puzzle in the Indy and as it was Thursday, we expected a challenge. There was some very clever and inventive clueing but also a few others that … Read more >>