Independent

I usually find Monk quite difficult but this wasn’t too tricky. I guessed the phrase that appears in the unchecked letters on the sides of the grid fairly early on so I filled … Read more >>

Solving time: 18 mins   (Apologies for the late posting, a misunderstanding in an email to blame!) Wednesday is always a good Indy day, as Dac is a reliable source of a safe, sound … Read more >>

Whether it was deliberate after the Bannsider debut yesterday, this was very straightforward.   I’d everything, except one, solved in 12 mins, but that took me another 10 mins to get so solving time … Read more >>

Solving time: 43 minutes   I rushed to the paper this morning to see who would be the author of today’s challenge and was surprised to spy a new name Bannsider.  First thought is … Read more >>

Even before you’d filled in a single answer, you knew that there was something else going on in this puzzle: the plus signs in 2 across and 2 down clues, 8 more in … Read more >>

Solving Time: 19 minutes When you are under the weather, the last thing you need is a nasty ferocious puzzle to make you feel worse.  Phi’s puzzle breezed in and contained lots of … Read more >>

Top half much harder than bottom half for me, especially because the long phrase in 11 across was new to me.  Solving time, 25 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1  IN CUB A … Read more >>

This is only the second puzzle by Punk in the Indy, packed with cryptic definitions and imaginative clueing.   I noticed that Eimi, commenting on this site some time ago, said he was not … Read more >>

Across 1 C,ROT,ON – I’d not heard of this before and “heralds” had me puzzled for a while but once I’d got C?O?O? the wordplay became more obvious. 9 (LIVE)*,ED – cleverly worded. … Read more >>

I found this tough, though guessing the theme when I solved straightaway the very first clue (BROWSER) which was a hidden. Grid filled with words associated with computers.    Some very inventive clueing, as I … Read more >>

Solving time: 6:44 Apologies for the today’s brevity. There’s one clue I don’t understand (8d). Across 9 BEER AND SKITTLES; [moder]N in (LIKE BEST TRADES)* 10 LAUNDERER (cryptic definition) 14 TIC-TAC (cryptic definition) … Read more >>

Solving time: 9:52 I don’t think this was one of Phi’s more inspired offerings; unless there is a theme I have missed, I suspect the construction started with the interlinking 11ac, 7dn and … Read more >>

Another good puzzle from Quixote including some treatments that were novelties for me. A little harder than his average. Solving time: 28 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 S (second) + KATE in … Read more >>

Solving time 8:48 As soon as you see the 8-block black lumps in the NE and SW corners you know something’s up, and the huge gap at the bottom of the across clues … Read more >>

Solving time 25 minutes I have really enjoyed the Indy daily puzzles recently and I know that a number of crossword chums have also done so, so I feel a bit odd about … Read more >>