Independent

Solving time, 21 mins * = anagram   < = reversed ACROSS 1 M (IS) USE 4 GRIM ACES 9 NO TI(C)ES 11 NET BALL    ten< 12 PEPPER-AND-SALT       hairstyle 14 LISTENERS    (let sirens)* 16 … Read more >>

Excellent puzzle, solving time 26 mins, lots of puns in the classic crossword style. Not sure if it is just coincidence but each symmetrical pair of 13-letter entries seemed somewhat similar to each … Read more >>

Enjoyable stuff as ever from Virgilius. There are a lot of double defs and homophones here, but it never seems repetitive. There seems to be a mini theme with a number of references … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism Enjoyable and very straightforward puzzle from Eimi. There was less obscure stuff than is sometimes the case, although 7 down was a new word … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism This seemed much more difficult than the usual Phi and some of the definitions were like the sort of left field thing you’d expect … Read more >>

Nice to get a Punk puzzle for my first blog of 2010. I found this on the easier side as Thursdays go, though none the less enjoyable for it. A very good spread … Read more >>

A very enjoyable puzzle from Virgilius. For my own part, found this to be one of the easiest Saturday puzzles I can remember, finishing unaided in roughly 20 minutes – although I don’t … Read more >>

There is something to look for here, referred to after the clue explanations, solving time 22 mins. * = anagram    < = reversed ACROSS 7 REMITTANCE    (Meter it can)* 9 UREA   hidden 10 … Read more >>

As always with Dac, a whole lot of transparently simple and elegant clues that leave one (me, at any rate) wondering how it was that they ever presented any problem. Yet some of … Read more >>

An  excellent themed puzzle from Merlin,  quite hard, solving time 38 mins. * = anagram  <  = reversed ACROSS 1 CUD DIE     A horse, like many of the across answers 4 C (dUCK) … Read more >>

Well, well! I wonder how familiar Raich will be to Independent-solving Fifteensquareders 😉 I’ve tackled a few barred crosswords by Raich, including an Inquisitor that earned me a nice bottle of champagne, but … Read more >>

Mostly quite manageable I think, my one stumbling block here was 1ac, which defeated me event with all the checking letters in place. Given what day it is, I had a brief look … Read more >>

A very Happy New Year to one and all. This crossword though was all about Christmas rather than New Year. The combined entry at 2d-7d-5a was taken from Clement C Moore’s poem ‘A … Read more >>

There were 364 puzzles (every day except Christmas Day) in the Indy (including IoS) in 2009.      23 setters appeared.    The policy of using themes, Ninas, continued, maybe even intensified. Nmsindy … Read more >>

A clever New Year’s Eve puzzle by Nimrod.    Nmsindy solved the clues in 39 mins, then spent another 30 mins trying to puzzle out the unclued ones before surrendering and going to the … Read more >>