Independent

Independent 8939 / Radian

Tue June 9, 2015 at 7:58 am by Bertandjoyce

This is our 200th blog!! (exclamation!) We haven’t blogged a Radian since last September – and this was a reasonably straightforward and enjoyable solve, let down only by the reference to … Read more >>

Independent 8938/eXternal

Mon June 8, 2015 at 7:30 am by Pierre

A good puzzle from eXternal to start the Indy week. His cluing style can be rather involved, and since I am a fan of concision, he’s probably never going to be my favourite … Read more >>

Independent on Sunday 1,319 by Poins

Sun June 7, 2015 at 8:00 am by Simon Harding

Lovely surfaces this week from Poins. I must pay more attention to them in future. Quite a tough challenge too, with 9 down being my undoing. I felt fortunate to remember Jeremy Bentham, … Read more >>

Independent 8,931 by Rorschach (Saturday Prize Puzzle, 30/05/15)

Sat June 6, 2015 at 12:28 pmSat June 6, 2015 at 8:00 am by Simon Harding

I’m not sure I’ve blogged a Rorschach before. Certainly I had very little idea what to expect. This was jolly good though. I managed to finish unaided, even if it did take a … Read more >>

Independent 8936 / Hob

Fri June 5, 2015 at 2:20 pmFri June 5, 2015 at 7:30 am by duncanshiell

Hob is a once a month setter on the Independent weekday series. This was a puzzle that looked as it might have had a theme given the number of possible … Read more >>

Independent 8,935 by Tyrus

Thu June 4, 2015 at 10:09 am by John

Quite amazingly difficult, for me at any rate, who took ages. Tyrus sails fairly close to the wind but is so far as I can see ultimately fair. I didn’t really enjoy this because it was such a slog, but perhaps if I hadn’t had the pressure of blogging, it would have been easier. It will be interesting to see how people got on.

Independent 8934 / Dac

Wed June 3, 2015 at 8:01 am by Bertandjoyce

Sometimes we want a quick solve because we are so short of time but we end up with a real challenge. On other occasions we want to have our minds stretched but we … Read more >>

Independent 8,933 / Quixote

Tue June 2, 2015 at 11:42 am by RatkojaRiku

I was somewhat surprised to find Quixote occupying this week’s Tuesday slot, since he tends not to appear on Tuesdays. However, as we have learnt in the past, such scheduling, far from being … Read more >>

Independent 8,932 by Punk

Mon June 1, 2015 at 8:17 am by flashling

New month, new Punk to do so saddle up…

Independent on Sunday 1318/Kairos

Sun May 31, 2015 at 12:01 am by Pierre

Poor Kairos must be getting fed up with seeing my name at the top of the blog for his Sunday Indy crosswords. His puzzles often seem to come around when I’m on duty. … Read more >>

Independent 8925 Sat 23-May-2015 Monk

Wed July 8, 2015 at 10:40 amSat May 30, 2015 at 12:01 am by beermagnet

I was glad when I found it was Monk today as he is one of my favourite setters. But this feeling changed as I discovered how tricky this one was. I had read all the … Read more >>

Independent 8,930 by Phi

Fri May 29, 2015 at 10:10 am by John

The usual excellent production from Phi. My own stupidity resulted in lack of completion — I was looking for ages at 1dn — and in particular Phi has done two things of which I approve: although there are unches all round the edges he never has less than 50% checking, something that the grid makes a bit tricky; and in 12ac he has given us some wordplay. Many setters would have been quite happy with ‘Supporters of bridges’ as a cryptic definition, but not Phi, who gives us two ways into the solution, realising that there is nothing to stop you from having a clever and witty definition in a ‘straight’ clue.