Independent

Hob has provided us with something of a teaser to exercise the grey matter this Thursday. It is a while since I have solved or blogged a crossword by Hob, so perhaps I … Read more >>

Eccles on Wednesday is a regular two-weekly occurrence at the moment.       As usual, Eccles gives us smooth surfaces to his clues as well as providing some interesting wordplay devices We … Read more >>

My goodness that was hard. But not for any reason I can see — all the clues make perfectly good sense in retrospect and seem quite straightforward. It was a really good crossword, … Read more >>

The fifth Indy puzzle from Tees this month – he’s been busy. Some tricky elements but an enjoyable challenge. A few clues required some not-very-general knowledge, particularly 8d which also had a tricky … Read more >>

Thank you to Hoskins for an amusing puzzle. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1. I am one to tolerate drug-taking naked king (6) BEARER : E(abbrev. for the drug, Ecstasy) contained … Read more >>

Phi-day is upon us once again, and here he is with his latest offering. I found this to be a medium-difficulty Phi puzzle, with more obscure vocabulary than is perhaps customary. 14 and … Read more >>

I have solved all Bluth’s puzzles in the Independent since his appearance in April, but this is the first one I have blogged.       There was an interesting use of words … Read more >>

When I knew whose crossword I was going to be blogging the preamble was forming in my mind: as Tees has become more frequent he has become easier; very good, but quite gentle. … Read more >>

We always look forward to a Tuesday Knut puzzle to find out which topical issue he is highlighting…. … but we have to say that we were surprised by the overtly political theme … Read more >>

I found this a mixture of quite easy and quite tough clues. There were a few more of the CD type, which I'm not normally a fan of. However, on this occasion, I … Read more >>

It’s always a treat to solve a Serpent puzzle. No unusual words to hold us up but there was a bit of head scratching when it came to parsing. Serpent often has something … Read more >>

As usual, Phi provides the Friday puzzle in the Independent       Puzzles with only 24 entries are rare.  Most puzzles have 28 to 32 entries.  I think somewhere between 36 and … Read more >>

Maize’s crosswords have always struck me as extremely good, and probably lots of people will sing this one’s praises, for there are plenty of lovely neat clues. But I’m afraid I’m less positive … Read more >>