Crossword roundup: local terms of abuse
If you know a term of abuse for a tiny group in your neighbouring area, please share it in our roundup of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesHere’s an evergreen clue, from Paul…1/12acPosition...
View ArticleCrossword blog: Meet the Setter – Navy
The latest in our series where we turn the tables on the torturers. Under the spotlight this time is Navy, AKA Lucy EvansThis seems to be the first in this series where the setter has to her name a sum...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: Why do we say 'Sweet Fanny Adams'?
The topical and the historical, in our pick of the most interesting cryptic cluesAs we wonder whether the prime minister’s party (or indeed her Commons) will announce wilted confidence in her ability...
View ArticleThe great puzzle: why the stigma around crosswords?
Actors, pilots and even cricketers have been known to tackle crosswords to pass the time, but it can be frowned uponThe New Zealand former opening batsman Mark Richardson is charmingly candid about...
View ArticleCrossword blog: the words of 2018
As dictionaries compete for our attention with their words of the year, are any of the choices enough to have appeared in crosswords?Every year, it gets more … interesting.When people spread...
View ArticleCrossword blog: Guardian setters enter the third dimension
Setters including Arachne, Enigmatist, Nutmeg, Pasquale, Puck, Qaos and Vlad have contributed to a year’s worth of 3D crosswordsWe can start 2019 with a happy anniversary. The series of 3D Calendar...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: is your puzzle worth a KNICKER, a QUID or even a CUD?
Slang terms for money co-star with Theresa May and Donald Trump in our pick of the best from the broadsheet crypticsIf you’re curious about cryptics, the Guardian’s quiptic series reaches its...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: gilets jaunes and sans-culottes
A sartorial history of French protesters and an unforgettable Norman Mailer reference in the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesAs the Artist of the Deal contemplates his bad luck in seeing a sixth...
View ArticleMeet the setter: Cullen/Smurf
The latest in our series where we turn the tables on the torturers. Under the spotlight this time is Cullen, AKA Bob GregoryOur guest this time is Bob Gregory, who sets as Cullen and Smurf for the...
View ArticleCryptic crosswords for beginners: rivers
Next in our series for those tempted or daunted by the cryptic crossword: the rivers that solvers need to knowIn the example clues below, I explain the two parts of each: the definition of the answer,...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: 'bundle', 'pile-on' ... or something else?
Playground slang, a teen idol and the real power in the White House in our pick of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesA question suggested by Brummie’s clue …24acSpeechlessDonald Trump’s inside,...
View ArticleCrossword blog: Brendan's lipogram
A crossword whose clues and answers include every letter except the easy oneThe annotated solution to Brendan’s recent Guardian Saturday prize puzzle bears a little introduction:* lipogram (5 down) is...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: how do ice-skating jumps get their names?
A women’s peace camp, a screen idol and some old ice skaters in our pick of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesHere’s Rosa Klebb in a FT prize puzzle:21dBoring old Conservative rebelling over...
View ArticleCrossword blog: try our American-style puzzle No 11: They’re Not *Always* Rude
Another new setter in our ‘American-style’ series – along with some tips on how to tackle the puzzlesOur series of American-style puzzles set to suit British readers continues, with the first one to...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: April Fools’ Day puzzles from home and abroad
Our annual collection of wordplay buffooneryWe have put out a plea here for more April fooling in puzzles published on 1 April. A few years back, you could expect some extra piece of trickery in most...
View ArticleCrosssword blog: celebrating locally themed puzzles
Not all papers’ crosswords can expect solvers to know Richard of Guillaume and Parva, but the Crosby Courier doesOne of the many pleasures of a crossword in a local paper is the regional detail, where...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: trademarks we never realise are trademarks
Two extraordinary Brexit puzzles and a host of proprietary terms in our collection of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesA long story in two clues, the first from Picaroon…12acHow Brexit begins...
View ArticleCrossword blog: why are puzzles symmetrical?
Inspired by John Finnemore’s recent Listener puzzle, a question about the value of symmetryThis contains spoilers for Listener 4,549; which you might well enjoy solving first.Solvers, setters: what...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: inaccurate clues from fictional crosswords
Geographical and anatomical infelicities ... but don’t worry, they’re only from the fictional puzzles among our pick of the best of the broadsheets’ crypticsBravo, Wiglaf, responding to the election of...
View ArticleCrossword blog: American-style puzzle No 12 – Why do they suddenly appear?
We welcome another new setter in our US series – and offer some tips on how to tackle the puzzlesOur series of American-style puzzles set to suit British readers continues: you can download #12, Why do...
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