This week’s 11 x 11 crossword from the Guardian intended to teach cryptic crosswords, found here
Independent 12,339 by Liari
I think I’m right in saying this is the first time Liari has appeared in the saturday slot.
Guardian Saturday Prize Crossword 29,984 by Imogen (18 April 2026)
Like London buses, you wait ages for an Imogen Prize puzzle to blog, and then two come along in quick order… Lucky me…this one is a treat…
Private Eye (Cyclops / 828) Harsh Hyena
I found this a bit tougher to get into than previous outings, but once I got going the answers and parsings materialised fairly quickly – sometimes even in the opposite order. I second-guessed myself a bit with 26d especially the parsing but now I’ve written it out I think it’s a nice clue/device.
Listener 4914: Figures of Fun by Serpent
Serpent’s second Listener – his first was 4408 Child’s Play – but his 16th in Dave Hennings’ database, dating back 11 years. The themes range widely (4408 was based on ‘Snakes and Ladders’ but the last EV was about Roman Emperors) – so what will we have this time?
Guardian 29,989 / Ix
A Friday debut two weeks in a row
Independent 12338 / Phi
This will be a normal Friday for Independent crossword solvers, as we have a puzzle from Phi to enjoy.
Financial Times 18,354 by XELA
A very breezy challenge from XELA this Friday.
Independent 12,337 by Methuselah
Methuselah is here to provide our morning brain exercise.
Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,988 by Brockwell
Thanks to Brockwell, this was a fun challenge and my favourites were 7dn, 8dn, and 16dn.
Financial Times 18,353 by NEO
Neo is this morning’s setter.
Enigmatic Variations No.1742 – Prime by Arcadia
“In the 180° symmetrical grid, two unclued entries (each of 13 letters) give the names of an author and a sequel to their PRIME work. Cells illustrating a counterexample of a PRIME quotation from the work, involving a further unclued entry of four letters, must be highlighted (13 letters, three words). Clues are in normal order, the wordplay in PRIME examples leading to an extra letter, spelling out the name of a charitable trust. In the final grid solvers must change two letters and then highlight the trust’s initials, a novel and a publication (three, four and six letters respectively in straight lines), all of which were PRIME creations of the author. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
Independent 12,336 by Eccles
Eccles is in his customary Wednesday slot this week.
Guardian 29,987: Anto
Several helpful anagrams and hiddens to get us started on this one, and the rest went in pretty smoothly. Thanks to Anto.
Financial Times 18,352 by MONK
Many thanks to Monk for a super challenge.