Crossword blog: Blindspot and when fictional puzzles become real
Which fictional worlds would you like to see unlocked by a real-world crossword? Dare to dream ...2010: the truncated spy series Rubicon gave us a plot with secret messages hidden in crosswords. Great...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: Bard grids
Shakespeare and cryptic crosswords: a perfect match of wordplayIf you’ve started a prize puzzle from the weekend just gone and haven’t yet puzzled out its theme, a glance at the papers might provide...
View ArticleCryptic crosswords for beginners: army games
Next in our series of cryptic helping hands – the army abbreviations you need to knowWelcome back to our ongoing effort to demystify cryptic clueing and entice the cautious but curious to crosswords...
View ArticleCrossword blog: how 'clever' are cryptic solvers?
Cryptic puzzles are a lot more mathematical than you might have thoughtGood news, everyone: it’s New Research Time!There’s an article in the open-access journal Frontiers about the solvers of cryptic...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: cryptic obituaries
2016’s celebrity deaths are not abating, but the crossword world matches each with a tribute puzzleVictoria Wood’s luxury on Desert Island Discs was “a bumper book of sudoku with blank pages and pens”....
View ArticleCrossword blog: how tasty are old chestnuts?
Plagiarism is never welcome. But do you regard some familiar devices as friend?What is it, to be a crossword solver?It is, we learn, to pursue something with “no real point”. Certainly, it’s to take...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: the pervasive stink of Jeremy Hunt
Unflattering crosswording cameos and unpleasant imagery in the pick of the best cryptic cluesJune 2006, and the shadow leader of the House has some fun with Jack Straw:May I congratulate the leader of...
View ArticleWhy crosswords are a survivalist's essential
If you think you’re prepared for the breakdown of civilised society, check that you’ve packed some puzzle booksWhen you’re staring at a tricky corner of a grid, wondering which toxic mushroom has a...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: backward boys and topless yobs
The songs of Cole Porter and the market-square slang of Victorian Britain are all put to the service of crosswordingGaff’s most recent puzzle in the Financial Times was headed “A birthday tribute”....
View ArticleCrossword blog: come back with a printer on Thursday
Check your toner and replenish your ink ...This week’s post will appear on Thursday. It will contain a special feature: if you remember to read near a printer, it will be worth your time creating a...
View ArticleCrossword blog: a one-off puzzle from Boatman and Crew
A bonus, once-in-a-lifetime extra puzzle available only here at Crossword blogThis week’s post is a one-off puzzle created by a crew captained by the Guardian setter Boatman (you can get inside his...
View ArticleCrossword blog: Boatman's referendum puzzle
Did you get stuck with our special cryptic crossword themed around the EU referendum? All will become clear ...Earlier this week, we published a special puzzle created by a crew headed by Guardian...
View ArticleCrossword blog: discussing tone without shouting
A warning: when countries engage in cultural wars, even crosswords suffer Three elections ago I was reporting for the BBC, banging on about the effect of the internet on politics: cybersquatting,...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: the language of Brexit and Chilcot
Some words to describe new things and some new words to avoid describing old things, in the pick of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesWhat would the direct equivalent be to the ambiguous referendum puzzle...
View ArticleCrossword blog: when solving a crossword is a criminal act
The case for the defence in a purely hypothetical situation where an avant-garde artwork containing a crossword has been written onThis is an imaginary oration and unrelated to any £67,000 avant-garde...
View ArticleCrossword blog: from Estonia to Uganda
A look at some of the latest examples of the continuing effects of Brexit on the crossword worldEcstasy, take a back seat. For the foreseeable, the use of “drug” in a clue to indicate an E in an answer...
View ArticleCrossword blog: meet the letter K
In a sister feature to our Meet the Setter series, we find out which words are used in cryptic crossword clues to indicate each of the letters of the alphabet.You’ve met A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: a lorra lorra anniversaries
While some recent clues were derived from current events, others preferred to look back ...1ac Clear picture? (5,3,5)[ adjective meaning ‘clear’ and a noun for a type of photograph ]1ac/12ac Writer,...
View ArticleCrossword blog: puzzles on canvas
An avant-garde artwork containing a crossword has been filled in – is the result art too? And where else can you find a puzzle hanging in a gallery?There is much cause to be anxious in today’s world –...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: the Olympics that never were
The apparent mystery of the great Olympic theme puzzles that never appearedAs Rio braces itself for life after the games, where were the Olympic puzzles?26ac Bolt maybe second office machine needed (8)...
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