Crossword blog: a month of special weekend puzzles when it’s OK to phone a...
In the Sunday Telegraph and the i newspaper, July weekends of ‘barred’ puzzles belong to their female settersAt the weekend, a different kind of crossword emerges. There are no black squares. The...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: Velcro provides cryptic fastenings … Plus: are you up for...
There are hooks and loops and fabrics galore in our pick of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic clues. Plus: the settter Paul goes on UK tourIn the sample clues below, the links take you to explainers...
View ArticleMeet the crossword setter Anto – ‘I just had to get my street name back’
The latest in our series where we turn the tables on the torturers. Under the spotlight this time is Tony Davis, AKA AntoAnto has been setting quiptics (including today’s) and cryptics for the Guardian...
View ArticleCrossword blog: sail forth! Did a skimming Scottish stone really become a...
Dodgy etymology for ships and drinking glasses is dusted down in our review of the broadsheets’ best cryptic cluesIn the sample clues below, the links take you to explainers from our beginners’ series....
View ArticleCrossword Council #4 – that’s not an anagram! It’s a letter bank …
The fourth general meeting of council considers a device used in other countriesThe Crossword Council is an occasional feature where we pretend to take ourselves overseriously and consider a potential...
View ArticleCrossword blog: Boris’s bendy bananas – and do we say ‘stroke’ or ‘backslash’...
We recall Boris Johnson’s 90s Brussels-bashing and explore the etiquette of how to say URLs in our look at the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesIn the sample clues below, the links take you to...
View ArticleMeet the crossword setter, plant scientist Soup: ‘A successful clue needs...
The latest in our series where we turn the tables on the torturers. Under the spotlight this time is the insect pollination expert Hamish Symington, AKA SoupThe Guardian’s newest cryptic setter, Soup,...
View ArticleCrossword blog: the many pronunciations of ‘garage’ and ‘eyrie’
We look at words with multiple pronunciations and share distractions in our pick of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesIn the sample clues below, the links take you to explainers from our...
View ArticleCrossword blog: a crossword can be 30 worlds in miniature
I can recommend two books, which have reminded me to slow down and savour my crosswordsA little sentence can hold a world.All through the house, colour, verve, improvised treasures in happy but...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: arguing about the names of flowers
Carnations, Olympians and your clues for GARAGE in the best of the broadsheets’ crypticsIn the sample clues below, the links take you to explainers from our beginners’ series. The setter’s name often...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: ‘fuchsia’ vs ‘fuschia’
We consider the loveliest shade in our collection of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesIn the sample clues below, the links take you to explainers from our beginners’ series. The setter’s name...
View ArticleCrossword blog: Meet the setter – Hectence
The latest in our series where we turn the tables on the torturers. Under the spotlight this time is Wendy Law, AKA Hectence“Hectence never disappoints”, we noted here with reference to the clue “Gone...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: pubs and their gardens
The pronunciation of ‘pronunciation’ in our pick of the best of the broadsheets’ crypticsIn the sample clues below, the links take you to explainers from our beginners’ series. The setter’s name often...
View ArticleCrossword blog: the Washington Post’s Daily Mini (+Weekly Meta)
We discuss a new kind of crossword challenge from the USWe recently looked at puzzles that can occupy a sizeable chunk of your weekend. Here is another weekend affair, but a completely different one –...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: opossum v possum, with a touch of Malibu
Marsupial ambiguity in our collection of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptic cluesIn the sample clues below, the links take you to explainers from our beginners’ series. The setter’s name often links...
View ArticleCrossword blog: Meet the Setter – TV’s Dave Gorman, standup comic with a...
The latest in our series where we turn the tables on the torturers. Under the spotlight this time is Dave Gorman, AKA Bluth and DjangoA setter who first appeared during the pandemic is Bluth, whose...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: muslin from Mosul, and thence to Mussolini …
We call in at an ancient Iraqi city in our tour of the best of the broadsheet cryptics. Plus: how you clued ‘Malibu’In the sample clues below, the links take you to explainers from our beginners’...
View ArticleMeet the crossword setter Carpathian – ‘People say: you must be very clever’
The latest in our series where we turn the tables on the torturers. Under the spotlight this time is Victoria Godfrey, AKA CarpathianCarpathian has been setting cryptics and quiptics, web-only, cryptic...
View ArticleCrossword roundup: the joys of unintended eating – is ‘snaccident’ a word?
New language and portmanteau words for wayward snacking in our pick of the best of the cryptic cluesIn the sample clues below, the links take you to explainers from our beginners’ series. The setter’s...
View ArticleCrossword blog: a month of special weekend puzzles when it’s OK to phone a...
In the Sunday Telegraph and the i newspaper, July weekends of ‘barred’ puzzles belong to their female settersAt the weekend, a different kind of crossword emerges. There are no black squares. The...
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