Although I have dabbled with cryptic (or British-style) crosswords for years, this year I’ve made more of a dedicated effort to improve my cryptic solving. I’ve tackled Josh Wardle’s Parseword game, sampled cryptics from many different outlets, and tried to learn more about the history of cryptic crosswords.
Along the way, I delved into Sondheim’s love of cryptics and celebrated milestones like 100 years of The Observer‘s crosswords and The Guardian publishing its 30,000th cryptic.
But it was the solving, experiencing all of those different voices and styles across many different publishers, that taught me about the incredible diversity and creativity of the cryptic setter community. Over the last year, I’ve solved puzzles from The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Observer, The Globe and Mail, the Cox and Rathvon archive, and more, as well as a backlog of cryptics from puzzle suites I’ve purchased in the past.
One of my most frequent cryptic crossword stops is The Independent.
And sadly, they’ve announced that they plan to stop publishing the daily cryptic crossword as of October 31st.
The Independent crossword is widely regarded as a breeding ground for new talent. Many commenters have rejoiced in all the new bylines and setters they see on a weekly basis, and solvers all over are lamenting the loss of a marvelous cryptic crossword outlet.
But thankfully, solvers are reaching out.
Simon Anthony at Cracking the Cryptic has shared the news with the CTC audience in the hopes of encouraging solvers to step up in support of The Independent crossword.
If you would like to add your voice to the chorus, you can share your thoughts (respectfully, please!) with Richard Best, managing editor of The Independent, at managingeditor@independent.co.uk.
I’ve already sent a few words there myself, hoping to be a small drop in a larger, more influential torrent of hope, interest, and protest.
If you’re unfamiliar with cryptic solving in general or The Independent crossword in particular, please click the links here and here to read more about the crossword’s influence and see the outpouring of support in the comments.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but The Independent crossword is one of the first cryptic crosswords I ever seriously attempted to solve.
It was 2013 and I was reading John Halpern’s The Centenary of the Crossword, where he chronicled a century of crossword solving on both sides of the Atlantic.
There were many puzzles included in the book, and after exhausting all of the American-style crosswords, I decided to try my luck with the cryptics.
It went poorly.
Years later, I returned to those puzzles, determined to try again. Among the puzzles I finally completed were a 2012 cryptic set by Anax and a 2009 cryptic set by Nimrod, both from The Independent.
So this year, when I decided to improve my cryptic solving, I remembered those puzzles, and made The Independent a regular part of my solving.
Do I still struggle? Absolutely. I am, at best, a mediocre cryptic solver. At the start, I ended up figuring out the word from crossings in the grid and identifying the definition part of the clue, and then reverse-engineering how the clue worked from the answer.
But more and more now, I’m learning the tricks and techniques, and I have slowly started getting better. The moments of total bafflement upon reading a clue are fewer and farther between, and grids are filling faster each week.
And it’s sad to think that — now that I’m finally getting the hang of it! — one of those cherished cryptic outlets is going away.
Hopefully enough people reach out and the managing editor is convinced to reverse his decision. Maybe they’ll follow the template laid out by other outlets and charge a small subscription fee to solvers to offset costs. I think it would serve them well to try.
Solvers aren’t the largest group in the world, but they are among the most loyal.
Here’s hoping The Independent recognizes that.
