Independent

Scorpion is, I find, the hardest of the Indy setters and this puzzle was no exception.    There were some novel approaches and some areas I am not entirely sure of all the reasoning.   These … Read more >>

Solving time : 10 minutes or so. The obvious theme of this puzzle made a few of the answers very easy to fill in. This sponsored puzzle is printed on a green background … Read more >>

This had all I’ve come to expect from Dac.   Excellent flowing surface readings, clever misdirection, a very satisfying solve, with all understood in the end.    A bit tougher than usual, maybe partly because … Read more >>

Solving time: 26 minutes  A nautical theme for today’s puzzle with lots of linked answers and clues.  This was very much a puzzle of 10 minutes of staring blankly, followed by 16 of furious … Read more >>

I found this quite tricky after 4 or 5 clues and couldn’t make any impact at all. Maybe that’s what happens when you try to solve a puzzle at 6.20am. Anyway, once I’d … Read more >>

Solving time 25:25 A while after his Countdown puzzle, Nimrod gives us another TV puzzle. 9D’s catchphrase, “I don’t believe it” appears in the unchecked letters on the left and right edges of … Read more >>

I found this quite tough – only one clue solved on first run through. Solving time: 30 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1 C (HOO-CH)OO 9 V ENER(v)ATE Curious to add a v … Read more >>

This is my first blog entry for a daily Independent crossword, and I got a nice gentle introduction. This was a comparatively easy crossword (10 minutes to solve) with solid clueing and a … Read more >>

I usually find Monk quite difficult but this wasn’t too tricky. I guessed the phrase that appears in the unchecked letters on the sides of the grid fairly early on so I filled … Read more >>

Solving time: 18 mins   (Apologies for the late posting, a misunderstanding in an email to blame!) Wednesday is always a good Indy day, as Dac is a reliable source of a safe, sound … Read more >>

Whether it was deliberate after the Bannsider debut yesterday, this was very straightforward.   I’d everything, except one, solved in 12 mins, but that took me another 10 mins to get so solving time … Read more >>

Solving time: 43 minutes   I rushed to the paper this morning to see who would be the author of today’s challenge and was surprised to spy a new name Bannsider.  First thought is … Read more >>

Even before you’d filled in a single answer, you knew that there was something else going on in this puzzle: the plus signs in 2 across and 2 down clues, 8 more in … Read more >>

Solving Time: 19 minutes When you are under the weather, the last thing you need is a nasty ferocious puzzle to make you feel worse.  Phi’s puzzle breezed in and contained lots of … Read more >>

Top half much harder than bottom half for me, especially because the long phrase in 11 across was new to me.  Solving time, 25 mins * = anagram ACROSS 1  IN CUB A … Read more >>