Well I can see that today is April Fool’s Day, a day on which there is not much point in reading the newspapers since all the writers will be vying with each other to find the most amusing non-story. …
Independent
Independent 9192 / Hoskins
We found the top half of this puzzle much easier than the bottom. This wasn’t helped by us entering DRAGOON for 30ac. Yes, we knew we couldn’t parse it but we thought … Read more >>
Independent 9,191 / Wiglaf
This is my first blog of a Wiglaf puzzle, which today is occupying the last Wednesday slot of the month when Dac typically takes a well-earned break. I found this to be a … Read more >>
Independent 9190 / Vigo
Vigo is an occasional contributor to the Independent daily series. I last blogged a Vigo puzzle in August last year. Vigo gives us our money’s worth today with 36 clues … Read more >>
Independent Online 9189/Punk
History will perhaps record that the first Independent cryptic of the paper’s digital-only age was set by Punk and blogged by Pierre. I just hope that I’ve done it justice, because it was … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1361 / Quixote
It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen Quixote on a Sunday. In fact it’s almost five years to the day because his last IoS was No. 1102 on 27th March 2011. The … Read more >>
Independent 9182 by Donk (?LAST EVER? Saturday Prize Puzzle – RIP – 19 March 2016)
I have in my hand a piece of paper…and unfortunately this is the last time I will be able to say that about a newsprint copy of an Indy Prize Cryptic (;+<) (My understanding … Read more >>
Independent 9187 / Phi
The honour of blogging the last weekday, dead-tree Indy cryptic puzzle falls to us on this rather sad day. Although the future of the daily cryptic seems reasonably secure in the online version … Read more >>
Independent 9,186 / Tees
It has been a while since I have solved/blogged a puzzle by Tees. I found this one quite a challenge, despite a fair few write-ins at the start. It took me a while … Read more >>
Independent 9185 / Dac
Dac appears in his regular Wednesday slot this week. For the first time in a while I didn’t struggle with the parsing of any of the entries in this blog. … Read more >>
Independent 9,184 by Radian
I found this extremely difficult. The clues are all quite understandable once you know the answer, but to get there is often very hard, so far as I can see, there being so many options for the wordplay and the definition.
Definitions in maroon and underlined.
Independent 9,183 by Crosophile
My last Indy blog before the paper goes for good.
Independent on Sunday 1,360 by Kairos
I found this different to the usual IoS style, harder and less straightforward. Not a puzzle designed “to let everyone have a go” which I would say is the more normal Sunday theme.
Independent Saturday Prize Puzzle 9176 / Morph – 12th March 2016
An enjoyable puzzle from Morph this week with some delightful surface readings. We were also very impressed by 17ac. However, we couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed because we had expected to find … Read more >>
Independent 9,181 / Phi
It is Friday today and thus time for my monthly lexical joust with Phi. I found this quite a tough puzzle by Phi standards, and although I completed it unaided, there was a … Read more >>