The Guardian's crossword editor has urged the Independent to keep its crossword alive, calling it an excellent puzzle made by excellent setters. The puzzle has been online-only since 2016, but a change to its interface made it difficult to use, with no links and a player that felt like writing on mashed potatoes with a hammer.
Interface issues and perseverance
Many solvers have persevered, despite the effort required to print a PDF. The Independent is planning to discontinue the crossword, which the editor finds baffling because the online puzzles could have a busy home with little effort and expenditure, and because puzzles have never been bigger.
Guardian's Cluesletter and Genius winner
The Guardian's Cluesletter launches on 13 October, described as a wonderful newsletter on all things puzzle-related. Jude Barker from Nottingham won September's Genius, solving a Turnstone puzzle where solvers remove Fibonacci-related words such as 'artichoke' from Fibonacci-numbered clues and place ZERO at the unclued entry. October's Genius is now available.
Theme clues and next challenge
Thanks were given for clues for THEME. The audacity award went to 10FootClaudicant for a preposterous clue, with runners-up Peshwari and Newlaplandes. The winner was the timely clue 'We ultimately must conclude other people matter'. Solvers are invited to leave clues for NEWSLETTER below.
