NealH

I've been doing crosswords off and on since university back in the 1980s. I used to do the Guardian, but defected to the Independent a year ago. My solving standard is still not what I'd like. I'd love to be able to knock off a crossword in 10 minutes, but find I'm still getting stuck for long periods when the inspiration doesn't quite arrive. I once had a go at compiling crosswords but, after a very rude rejection for the editor of the Telegraph, I didn't bother any further.

Independent 7107 by Monk

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*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def I found this very difficult, although having finished it, the clues don’t seem that hard, so maybe I was just completely off form. Most of … Read more >>

Independent 7101 by Eimi

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*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def A neat, cricket-themed puzzle that was fairly enjoyable. There was some clever cricket misdirection, 2 down being a good example. There ware one or two … Read more >>

Independent 7095 by Math

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*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def I found this a lot easier than some of the recent Monday puzzles. There didn’t seem to be any obvious theme or NINA. Across 1 … Read more >>

Independent 7089 by Mordred

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*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def Doing the Monday blog, I seem to get a disproportionate number of tough puzzles and this was no exception. There was an ice-skating related NINA … Read more >>

Independent 7083 by Hypnos

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*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def I got most of this done fairly quickly, but then got stuck on 1,2,10,17 and 21. Most of these involved obscure or unusual words. There … Read more >>

Independent 7071 by Radian

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*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def An enjoyable puzzle which was just challenging enough for a Monday morning. The only one I didn’t follow was 20 down, which still doesn’t make … Read more >>

Independent 7065 by Merlin

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*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def A fairly enjoyable crossword that was mostly straightforward, but had a couple of unusual words. Across 1 Debt: Bed< + t. Not sure the surface … Read more >>

Independent 7053 by Tees

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*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def Another very difficult puzzle by Tees. I couldn’t really get going until I looked up the Laurence Sterne wikipedia entry to find the answer to … Read more >>

Independent 7047 by Hypnos

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*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def Although I’m not a user of it, all the recent fuss over Twitter helped me get going with this puzzle. Once I’d got that, I … Read more >>

Independent 7035 by Phi

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*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def It’s fairly unusual for me to blog a Phi puzzle because they normally occupy the Friday slot. He’s actually one of my favourite compilers, with a straightforward … Read more >>

Independent 7029 by Punk

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*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def A couple of rather loose definitions (laptop computer = means of communication ?) meant I found sections of this tricky. There was only one (15 down) I … Read more >>

Independent 7023 by Monk

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*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def I found this very hard-going. Spotting the symmetric anagrams around the perimeter of the gird earlier would have helped a lot. Across 1 Secret Agent: anag of … Read more >>