Independent

Another very satisfying crossword from Bannsider.  As usual the wordplay is very precise, even although it takes me a while to work it all out. The entry that took me the longest time … Read more >>

As always, a well-constructed and satisfactory crossword from Phi. The only clue that defeats me, at any rate from the parsing point of view, is 1ac. Probably utterly straightforward. Can’t see a Nina, … Read more >>

This puzzle first appeared in the Indy ‘i’ on 3rd December last year and the day before Anax mentioned in a comment on 15² that it was a puzzle that had “a moderately … Read more >>

For me, Dac’s puzzles tend to be characterised by an economy of language and a smoothness of surface reading in the clues, and are reminiscent of those Guardian puzzles set by Custos (the … Read more >>

A very welcome appearance from Tees with a very enjoyable puzzle, much of it centred around 21A. There are some excellent clues in here, the political-themed anagram at 11/9 being a particular highlight. … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism A fairly gentle start to the week from Hypnos. There were lots of nice clues with 10 being my favourite. 4 down was also … Read more >>

I hope I have got the serial number right here, for the puzzle published on 2 January. Because I don’t like writing on newsprint (sorry!), I scanned it in and printed it onto … Read more >>

Something a little bit different from Phi here, to mark New Year’s Day. This week’s puzzle has a preamble, which tells us: Seven answers are suitably modified before entry to reflect the season. … Read more >>

The call goes out for a Friday sub and I stick my hand up thinking I’d get a workmanlike Phi, then Phi appears on a Thursday with an Epiphany themed doozy that gave … Read more >>

A tricky puzzle, since so many of the entries revolved around one clue, which for those of us working on the basis of the electronic version alone was merely described as a 17-word entry, … Read more >>

We have another situation today in which the numeration for the very long answer can’t be given due to software constraints. If you’d like to give the information on fifteensquared again it’s: (1,4,6,2,3,2,2,4,3,5,4,2,3,4,3,1,7).

Happy New Year all. A perfect way to start 2011 in my book – a well-crafted, elegantly clued Dac puzzle. I found the SW corner a little tough here and the anagram at … Read more >>

Punk doesn’t seem to appear so much as he used to in the Indy, but perhaps that’s just an impression. He has produced a crossword with some good clues; there used to be … Read more >>

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism I swapped this blogging spot with NMSIndy, which in retrospect is rather fortunate, as it would otherwise have left him with a rather too … Read more >>

Don Quixote de la Mancha deftly subdued another giant aka windmill with last week’s offering of a variety of cryptic devices, each crafted immaculately and with very few wasted words. ACROSS 9 LASSITUDE … Read more >>