The Guardian year in crosswords 2024

Posted on behalf of Mitz

Unsurprisingly, with a new Crossword Editor at the helm, this felt like a very different year for crosswords in the Guardian and the statistics bear this out, even though (with the exception of Nutmeg) every single setter who had been active in 2023 returned. There were four debuts, of a sort at least, and also three other names returned having been absent for longer than a year. Including the debutants no fewer than 13 setters set a personal appearance record, and two others equalled their personal best – this is an all-time record. Three setters reached milestones – big ones at that.

Here are the individual totals for daily puzzles:

Paul – 40 (level)
Picaroon – 33 (down 4)
Vulcan – 27 (up 1) – new record
Brummie – 23 (up 6) – new record
Imogen – 15 (up 2) – new record
Anto – 13 (down 1)
Pasquale – 13 (up 1)
Qaos – 13 (up 1)
Pangakupu – 12 (down 2)
Fed – 11 (down 3)
Philistine – 11 (up 1)
Tramp – 11 (down 5)
Maskarade – 10 (up 4) – new record
Brockwell – 9 (up 3) – new record
Kite – 9 (up 7) – new record
Brendan – 8 (down 9)
Jack – 8 (level – joint record
Vlad – 7 (down 8)
Yank – 6 (debut)
Boatman – 5 (level)
Carpathian – 4 (down 3)
Harpo – 4 (up 1) – new record
Arachne – 3 (level)
Dynamo – 3 (debut)
Enigmatist – 3 (up 3: first since 22/7/2022)
Chandler – 2 (up 2: first since 9/8/2022) – new record
Ludwig – 2 (debut)
Matilda – 2 (down 3)
Omnibus – 2 (up 2: first since 29/8/2005) – new record
Soup – 2 (down 1)
Hugo – 1 (debut)
Sphinx 1 (level) joint record

Some caveats: of the four debuts Yank was the only one that was straightforward. Ludwig was initially a tie-in with the David Mitchell comedy drama of the same name, for which Alan Connor was the Puzzle Consultant (how grand!) – Alan subsequently admitted that he had set the two puzzles (both of which had identical solutions, albeit with very different clues) with some help from Enigmatist. It seems that Ludwig will continue as Alan’s regular pseudonym, as since the TV programme aired there have been two more: a Christmas special published within a supplement on December 21st as an antidote to Maskarade’s official Prize and now in the new year a regular daily. Dynamo appeared for the first time on August 19th and some suspect that this may be another regular setter with a suitably Monday-ish alternative pseudonym (although this has not been confirmed). Finally, the whole of the current stable came together as Hugo on February 17th with a fond farewell for Hugh Stephenson on his retirement.

It was lovely to see the return of Enigmatist after a hiatus of 719 days – 2023 was the first calendar year without a contribution from him since his debut in 1979. The next time we see him with a daily, his will become the longest-lived pseudonym of all, overtaking Orlando – the wonderful Michael Curl who sadly died this year. Chandler also returned after an absence of 651 days, but he has been seen in other series during the intervening period. However, another new record was that of the longest ever gap between puzzles, in a manner of speaking at least. The first puzzle by Omnibus was published in 2005 and was flagged as having been compiled using clues sent in by Guardian readers. So, when a second Omnibus appeared on October 15th – a small matter of 6,987 days later – Logodaedalus’s record of 4,637 days between puzzles was soundly beaten. It should be mentioned that Alan continues to play his cards close to his chest as to how the new Omnibus puzzles (there has since been a third) came about.

Two setters went past the milestone of 300 daily puzzles this year. Brummie did so on May 22nd becoming the 15th triple-centurion and Picaroon followed on August 10th to become the 16th. Both are now close to overtaking Chifonie, who current sits in 14th place on the all-time league table. Late in the year, on December 19th, Paul became only the third setter behind Araucaria and Rufus to reach 1,100 daily puzzles.

Only one setter is likely to reach a personal milestone during the year ahead: Pasquale is currently on 395 and so is set to become only the 13th quadruple-centurion sometime around May.

For the first time since 1974 there were five setters who contributed at least one puzzle on all days of the week (bar Sunday, of course): Paul (completing the set on May 25th), Brendan (June 7th), Brummie (June 13th), Picaroon (August 29th) and Pasquale (December 12th). This was the 5th year in a row for Brendan and 7th in all: only Araucaria and Altair are ahead of him in that table. Also, Brendan’s yearly total of just 8 was the equal fewest to be spread over all days (along with Crucible in 2012). He hasn’t been seen at all since October 28th – not the first time he has taken a break – so I hope all is well with him. For Paul and Pasquale it was their 4th time with the full set while Brummie and Picaroon both got there for the 2nd time.

There was a very different mix of setters providing the Prize puzzles on Saturdays, a position which in recent years has been dominated by Paul:

Picaroon, Brummie – 6 each
Paul, Kite – 5 each
Maskarade, Brockwell – 4 each
Imogen, Qaos – 3 each
Pasquale, Tramp, Jack, Carpathian, Soup – 2 each
Philistine, Brendan, Boatman, Arachne, Matilda, Hugo – 1 each

This was the first time that Matilda and Carpathian had appeared in the Prize slot and with Arachne’s return this was the first time ever that three different women were seen on Saturdays (with four between them) within a calendar year.

Eight different setters provided puzzles for the Quiptic series, which on April 7th moved from Monday to Sunday. For the first time since 2018 Hectence was not the most prolific here, although she still has a healthy lead on the all-time list. The eight were:

Pasquale – 11
Picaroon – 11
Anto – 8
Chandler – 8
Carpathian – 7
Hectence – 6
Bartland – 1
Kite – 1

No-one has ever set more than 11 Quiptics in one year

The monthly Genius puzzles we’re provided by the following:

January – Qaos
February & June – Picaroon
March – Karla
April & September – Soup
May & August – Pangakupu
July – Eccles
October – Claw
November – Twin (debut)
December – Kite

On April 6th a new series was launched: the Quick Cryptic, which is published on Saturdays with a small grid and a limited range of clue types, aimed firmly at beginners (and I’m delighted to confirm that my son, who I have been trying to get into cryptics for ages, recorded his first clean kill with a recent Maskarade – so it’s working!)

Picaroon – 14
Carpathian – 13
Maskarade – 5
Chandler – 4
Brummie – 1
Fed – 1
Tramp – 1

Observant readers will have noted that Picaroon has been extremely busy this year, in all formats. He is the first setter to have completed the set of all days of the week plus at least one Quiptic and one Genius within a calendar year, not to mention providing more Quick Cryptics than anyone else. He is the first setter to provide 60 puzzles to the Guardian in one year across all formats since Araucaria in 2010.

One last stat to note: assuming that he will continue to provide the daily puzzle only on alternate Mondays, Vulcan’s record this year of 27 will be his maximum, only achievable when the year begins on a Monday (or a Sunday if it is a leap year). Interesting that Imogen has also set an all-time personal record at the same time…

Here’s to a great year ahead for all in Crosswordland.