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Independent Inquisitor

The Independent’s Saturday magazine has carried a thematic crossword since 1988, pretty well from the first issue, I believe.  The numbering of said puzzle is, however, all set to be a puzzle for future cruciverbal historians, as it has reset several times, generally with a redesign of the magazine or the games page.  Its most recent incarnation – the Inquisitor – is numbered ‘correctly’ – that is, the number on the puzzle today (I’m writing this on 3 November 2012) is 1254, and it is indeed the 1254th published in the magazine.  But when I get to some of the intervening puzzles you may find that the numbers drop unexpectedly low.

I can’t recall in detail how I got on to the team setting the puzzle.  After some years of setting Listener puzzles, and attending the annual dinner, I had got to know a few setters, and was essentially hanging around, hoping for an opportunity.  I vaguely recall that the call, when it came, arrived at the reception desk of a hotel where I was attending a conference  – Sheffield, I think.  It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting when the receptionist said there was a message for me to ring a certain number.

In the early days, setters reappeared quite quickly (the first one of mine was No. 5, the second No. 10) but the roster has expanded somewhat, and the turn-round isn’t quite so hectic.  I have, however, racked up 160 of these puzzles in the intervening years, so there are plenty to choose from.

Alas, the Independent never put the Inquisitor puzzle up on its website.  The puzzle moved to the main Saturday paper itself, sometime in 2013, I think (certainly after I wrote the first paragraph above), where it sat for a while under the weather.   (No one got round to using the concept as a puzzle idea in due course.)

It’s worth adding to the foregoing to accommodate more recent history following The Independent’s move to online only publishing – The Inquisitor now appears (still in paper form, still no online presence) in the i.

Puzzle 5: Leading Lights

Puzzle 78: In ten cases…

Puzzle 156: Puzzle of the Year of the…

Puzzle 529: Anagrams

Puzzle 547: Domains

Puzzle 7: Tom Swifties

 Puzzle 377: Not So Complex?

 Puzzle 84: ‘Twas Ever Thus

Puzzle 1185: Trilogy

Puzzle 1212: Dicta

Puzzle 301: Star Quality

Puzzle 563: Musical Chairs

Puzzle 132: Countdown

Puzzle 139: Sleepers

Puzzle 90: Passacaglia with Variations

Puzzle 135: 14/1/1898

Puzzle 225: Middle Eights

Puzzle 168: Algebra

Puzzle 361: Sightings

Puzzle 1303: Persuasion

Puzzle 1386: This House Believes

Puzzle 1352: How to Spell CAT

Puzzle 1364: Find the Word

Puzzle 1227: No Question

Puzzle 1325: Stopping Service

Puzzle 1140: Hard Going

Puzzle 1255: Last to Go

Puzzle 39: Obviously Oddball Operas

Puzzle 1438: Something Fishy

Puzzle 1547: Northern Lights

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About me

This is the website of Paul Henderson, who sets crosswords for The Independent (London) under the pseudonyms Phi, for the Daily Telegraph (London) under the pseudonym Kcit, and anonymously for The Times (London) amongst many other outlets. For a more detailed biography see the About Me page.

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