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 10,237 by Kairos

Mon August 5, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

I thought this was an excellent puzzle with just the right level of cultural references.

Independent 10,219 by Phi

Mon July 15, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

A well crafted puzzle by Phi of very high quality. This was much more accessible than last Monday’s puzzle (no obscure bands, at any rate) but still required a lot of careful thought to decrypt all the clues.

Independent 10,201 by Tees

Mon June 24, 2019 at 9:09 am by NealH

A fairly typical Tees puzzle with a nice mixture of clues and some snippets of general knowledge thrown in.

Independent 10,183 by Knut

Mon June 3, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

I found this a tough puzzle to get started with. There was an interesting variety of clues and you often had to break the clue down to atomic level to work out the parsing.

Independent 10165 by Filbert

Mon May 13, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

An absorbing puzzle with some difficult clues.

Independent 10147 by Vigo

Mon April 22, 2019 at 7:29 pm by NealH

A combination of the puzzle being uploaded to the Indy site very late and my being out most of the day means the blog is somewhat later than usual.

Independent 10129 by Knut

Mon April 1, 2019 at 9:56 amMon April 1, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

A date appropriate puzzle from Knut with lots of lively and occasionally off-the-wall clueing devices.

Independent 10,111 by Gila

Mon March 11, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

I found this to be one of those slightly frustrating puzzles where you fly through 90% of it, only to end up completely stumped by a couple of clues where you have all the crossing letters but it doesn’t help.

Independent 10093 by Tees

Mon February 18, 2019 at 11:04 amMon February 18, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

I wasn’t 100% sure who set this, since I solved it on the Crossword blogging site and that did not give a name. It does have the feel of a Tees but slightly more toned down than usual – not as many pop culture references and slightly obscure words.

Independent 10,075 by Tees

Mon January 28, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

This was an enjoyable puzzle of moderate difficulty with some cunning devices.

Independent 10,057 by Eccles

Mon January 7, 2019 at 9:00 am by NealH

An absorbing puzzle from Eccles which had an interesting mix of conventional and pop culture clues.

Independent 10,040 by Vigo

Mon December 17, 2018 at 9:00 am by NealH

Another thoroughly enjoyable offering from Vigo.

Independent 10,022 by Eccles

Mon November 26, 2018 at 9:00 am by NealH

An absorbing puzzle with lots of nice clues.

Independent 10,004 by Poins

Mon November 5, 2018 at 9:00 am by NealH

A nice Monday workout which was generally on the easy side with a lot of those sort of clues where you feel the answer should have been obvious immediately but it actually takes a bit of working out.