Some of you may have heard that The Independent newspaper has decided to drop the daily cryptic crossword with effect from the end of October 2026. I believe that the last puzzle will appear on October 31st. Incidentally the day before Fifteensquared’s 20th birthday.
YORK SLOGGERS & BETTERS 2026
Important update
Guardian Cryptic 30120 Qaos
Thank you to Qaos. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Again, apologies for the late posting.
Independent 12,469 / Longitude
This is my first outing with Longitude as both a solver and a blogger, and a thoroughly enjoyable experience it was too!
Guardian Cryptic 30120 Qaos – Placeholder
Sorry, the blog will be late
Financial Times 18,488 by GURNEY
Gurney is this morning’s setter.
EV1764 – placeholder
Apologies, this blog will be a day late.
Financial Times 18,487 by MONK
A tricky challenge from Monk.
Independent 12468 / Hoskins
Hoskins fills the Wednesday slot in the Independent, in the week we learn that the series itself is likely to end at the end of October
Guardian Cryptic crossword No 30,119 by Paul
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/30119.
MyCrossword Featured crossword No 20 by Meles
The original puzzle may be found here.
Inquisitor 1977: Call the NHS by Dash
This week we have a puzzle entitled ‘Call the NHS ‘, set by Dash
Independent 12,467 by Crosophile
I don’t think we’ve seen Crosophile for a few months: welcome back! The original puzzle is at https://puzzles.independent.co.uk/games/cryptic-crossword-independent/?puzzleDate=20260922.
Guardian 30,118 / Boatman
It’s Boatman back, after quite a while, I think ….
Financial Times 18,486 by GOZO
A mostly straightforward puzzle from Gozo today.
Financial Times 18,485 by ARTEXLEN
ARTEXLEN kicks off the week…