Independent

Independent 9,251 by Quixote

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For some time this week I have been struggling to produce anything like a half-decent clue in a certain clue-setting competition. Yet Quixote, who sets several crosswords weekly, produces smooth and efficient clues that certainly look as if they are written easily. There is seldom any strain or ‘well, I’m not sure I’d have done that …’ at any point.

Definitions underlined and in maroon.

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Independent 9,249 by Gila

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I’ve not come across Gila much before but this was a solid offering which was generally at the easier end of the spectrum.   Not sure if the name refers to the Gila monster, a type of lizard – perhaps the compiler will enlighten us.

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Independent 9,246 by Morph

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Morph has given us his usual very sound and pleasant crossword. It was always my impression that Morph’s clues were on the wordy side, but I counted them (yes I really did, I have to admit) and the average word-length of each clue is only 7, which compares quite favourably with Dean Mayer’s last Sunday Times puzzle of 6.8. I had always thought that Dean’s clues were particularly pithy, but this one was not all that far behind. Anyway, perhaps it’s a bit silly to focus on length: quality is what it’s about, and there was plenty of quality here.

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Independent 9243/Daedalus

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Daedalus and I keep running into each other on Fifteensquared.  This is his ninth Indy puzzle and I’ve blogged five of them.  I’m still not warming to his style – I find it … Read more >>