Crossword blog: try our American-style puzzle No 8: Shoot!
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...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: when renounings happen
Doughnut – and other words – may go from noun to verb, then back to noun (but with some extra business tacked on the end): our pick of the best cryptic cluesBrexit. What’s going to happen? Annoying...
View ArticleCrossword blog: Meet the Setter – Marc Breman
Here, we usually look at puzzles from the broadsheets. There is of course another world of newspaper crosswords, and the tabloids’ cryptics tend to be looser in their wordplay. Marc Breman has set for...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: jalopies, bangers and rustbuckets
We fail to find the origin of ‘jalopy’, but do find the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesDo you solve on your commute? If you travel by train, presumably you have had to move to the Azed/Listener...
View ArticleCrossword blog: try our American-style puzzle No 9: Long shots
A new setter in our ‘American-style’ series – along with some tips on how to tackle the puzzlesGood news! This series has its second setter. This month’s puzzle is by the excellent Paul Taylor, who you...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: more geometry and politics than football
A search for soccer in our pick of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesReader, have I missed some great World Cup-themed puzzles? Eccles refers to the man of the moment ...3dRussianscrum-half’s...
View ArticleCrossword blog: an Englishman in Connecticut
What happened when a British crossword editor talked cryptics in the US?This year, there was a distinguished guest at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut. In this annual...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: what's so corny about corn?
Sporting omens and a defence of the NHS feature in our pick of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesThe football clues have finally begun! That said, Anglio in the Independent drives fear into English...
View ArticleCrossword blog: Why solvers adored the late Audreus's puzzles
Audreus, a Guardian setter for over half a century, has died aged 96. What was it that made her so popular?“I love silence.”So went Audreus’s answer to our question“Where do you create your puzzles?”...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: how can a word's definition be the word itself?
Kim Jong-un, Boris Johnson and the end of the world feature in our roundup of the best cryptic cluesIn the Telegraph, a puzzle which tradition suggests is by the setter known locally as Pasquale has...
View ArticleA crime novel from Guardian setter Picaroon
The Guardian setter Picaroon is publishing his first book – a crime novel – using his non-crosswording name, James Brydon. We’ve already talked to him about his clue construction in a Meet the Setter;...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: Donald Trump in nine squares
The president in miniature kicks off our collection of the best – and most topical – cryptic clues from the broadsheets and beyondUniting our experiments with American-style crosswords and our...
View ArticleCrossword blog: Meet the Setter – Azed
The latest in our series where we turn the tables on the torturers. Under the spotlight this time is Jonathan Crowther, AKA AzedMany crossword fans tell me that when they see an Azed grid, just before...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: where are the good Spanish crosswords?
We find tea with Putin, a lifetime of work and South American foods in our roundup of the best of the cryptic cluesThe Guardian’s Nutmeg (Meet the Setter) is known for understatement and deft cluing....
View ArticleCryptic crosswords for beginners: music
Next in our collection of tips and tricks to demystify the cryptic: the music of crosswordsHalf of every cryptic clue is a description of what you need to write in the grid. Because crossword setters...
View ArticleCrosswords for beginners: cryptozoology
Next in our series for those tempted or daunted by the cryptic crossword: the animals that solvers need to knowWhen British crosswords started to become cryptic, PG Wodehouse sent a despairing letter...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: handicap v cap-in-hand
Mayors and prime ministers join golfers, jockeys and football managers in a sporty summary of the best cryptic cluesArachne has had her eye on Theresa May since she (May, that is) was home secretary....
View ArticleCrossword blog: try our American-style puzzle No 10: [untitled]
Another new setter in our ‘American-style’ series – along with some tips on how to tackle the puzzlesGood news! Another setter has joined our stable of ‘“American-style” crosswords: puzzles with clues...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: duffel coats, knapsacks, duffel bags and backpacks
Donald Tusk, the backstop and how we name bags: our roundup of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesAs the US recalls that even Ronald “strapping young buck” Reagan could manage these kind of...
View ArticleAgatha Christie's Curtain and its crossword
Billed as Poirot’s last case, Agatha Christie’s Curtain depends on a crossword for its plot – how does it fare?Sorry, but as Christmas approaches, it is time for another reading recommendation. We have...
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