Bluejacket has provided our cruciverbal challenge this Thursday. He appears to be a relatively new addition to the Indy compiling team, and it is certainly the first time that I have blogged one of his puzzles.
Month: January 2026
Financial Times 18,268 by NEO
Neo is today's setter.
Guardian 29,904 – Paul
Some tricky clues in this puzzle, including one that I was unable to parse fully. Thanks to Paul.
(This blog was written rather in haste, sp apologies in advance for any errors – I should be able to correct them later today.)
Financial Times 18,267 by MONK
A most enjoyable start to the day from Monk.
Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,903 by Fed
Fed is today's inquisitor.
Independent 12252 / Eccles
After the festive season, the crossword world returns to normal with an Eccles puzzle on a Wednesday.
RIP – Mark Longair
RIP – Mark Longair
Inquisitor 1941: Dreamworks II by Ifor
Ifor is one of the most prolific setters of Inquisitor puzzles and always seems to come up with an interesting theme
Independent 12,251 by Math
Tuesday fun from Math.
Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,902 by Brummie
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29902.
Financial Times 18,266 by SLORMGORM
Rather a stiff challenge today from Slormgorm, but in the customary witty style
Spectator Christmas Special 2025 by Doc
The 2025 Spectator Christmas Special – a mammoth effort by Doc, with (approx) 81 clues and no less than 51(?) thematic unclued entries in seven categories! Fortunately, the Christmas edition of the magazine was a triple-weeker, so I had almost 5 weeks to solve and blog. I think I have solved/deduced them all, some on the last day before submission, but readers/commenters may have come up with alternative possibilities – time will tell when the official solution is published on Thursday…
Financial Times 18,265 by BOBCAT
BOBCAT kicks off the week…
Independent 12,250 by Italicus
This was a mostly gentle puzzle with a few that required some work to parse them.