Crossword roundup: the fuzz and the heat
Slang terms for law-enforcement officers and a pair of pairs of braces, in our roundup of the best of the broadsheet crypticsWe have a couple more Meet The Setter interviews coming soon, among them...
View ArticleTry our American-style crossword puzzle No 3: PO ...
The third instalment in our attempt to make puzzles in the US style but made up of British-friendly referencesThis is the third puzzle that tries to offer US-style crosswords with UK-friendly clues and...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: words of the year in action
Which of the dictionaries’ top expressions for 2017 have been given the setters’ stamp of approval?“Sometimes,” writes Oxford’s president of dictionaries, Casper Grathwohl, “you pick a word of the year...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: having a shufty at Blighty
Rudyard Kipling’s travel tips and Theresa May’s naughtiest acts in our pick of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesAround the start of December, I find myself looking forward to Micawber’s...
View ArticleTry our American-style crossword puzzle No 4: Store's in what?
The fourth instalment in our attempt to make puzzles in the US style but made up of British-friendly referencesPlease, download this puzzle (our most accessible so far), and tell us what solving it was...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: a stable genius, or a git?
There’s hyper-topicality and unparliamentary language in our collection of the best of the cryptic cluesThere’s topical and there’s expeditious. The publication date for Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: words that spell other words backwards
There’s a REWARD for DRAWER and a SKUA stealing from AUKS, in our pick of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic clues ...Cryptic-curious? Allow us to remind you that the Guardian provides a “quiptic”...
View ArticleTry our American-style crossword puzzle No 5: Cryptic Currencies
Another puzzle from the easier end in our ‘American-style’ seriesThe fifth in the series is called Cryptic Currencies and awaits your solving and feedback. You can download it in digital or in...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: the contradictory meanings of 'chuff'
A pair of debut novels deploy a pair of baffling words in the pick of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesGaff’s recent Financial Times puzzle has, as Gaff’s so often do, a rubric:An anniversary...
View ArticleCrossword blog: a cryptic Twitter list
Who else belongs on our list of microbloggers who are apt to discuss cryptic crosswords?Thanks for your suggested replacement clues for the Campaign for Real Ale’s Derby Drinker magazine. If you missed...
View ArticleCrossword blog: try our American-style puzzle No 6: '(miscellaneous)'
Another puzzle from the easier end in our ‘American-style’ series – along with some tips on how to tackle itBritish solvers: here is a puzzle in the US style, with clues and answers you will enjoy. You...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: one thousand ways to jive
Trump’s lawsuits and “jive turkey” in our pick of the best crossword cluesDuring our last roundup, we imagined Donald Trump completing a UK cryptic and mumbling merrily to himself ...You are a synonym...
View ArticleCrossword blog: Meet the Setter – Knut
The latest in our series where we turn the tables on the torturers. Under the spotlight this time is Rob Jacques, AKA KnutRob Jacques sets for the Independent as Knut and for the Financial Times as...
View ArticleCrossword blog: what a macabre Hebrew brouhaha
If you picture Ken Dodd under an umbrella, that may help with the best of the broadsheets’ recent cryptic clues ... I trust you read and enjoyed last week’s Q&A with Knut. If you missed his more...
View ArticleCrossword blog: Meet the Setter – Styx
Next up in our series where we turn the tables on the torturers is David Stickley, AKA StyxThe name Styx might be familiar to long-time solvers of the Financial Times; it can also be found weekly in...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: April Fools still in short supply
More than one setter has a hidden camera trained on Trump, but not enough have produced 1 April specials – our pick of the best of the broadsheet crypticsThis year, April Fools’ Day fell on a Sunday, a...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: pyrotechnics and a bottle of bubbly
J-Lo joins the Pogues in our pick of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesIn the Independent, Tyrus brings all manner of misdirection to his clue ...9acFawnover credit union we’re trying to leave...
View ArticleCrossword blog: the New Yorker's second crossword
If you’ve always presumed that the New Yorker magazine always had a crossword, read on ...When a publication launches a puzzle, it is obliged to answer a couple of existential questions: “Who are we?”...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: mothers-in-law or mother-in-laws?
Karl Marx, Richard Feynman and some tricky plurals in our pick of the best of the broadsheet crypticsGreat news if you’re a fan of Guardian setter Boatman, can get to Brighton on Thursday, enjoy a...
View ArticleCrossword blog: try our American-style puzzle No 7: Money talks
Another puzzle in our ‘American-style’ series – along with some tips on how to tackle itIf you’re already familiar with this puzzle series, here’s the latest in digital or printable form – and do...
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