Coot has provided this Thursday’s teaser. I haven’t blogged many of his puzzles, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect today.
Month: December 2025
Financial Times 18,242 by LEONIDAS
My 1,000th Fifteensquared blog.
Guardian 29881 / Paul
scchua, the schedule blogger for today’s puzzle is unavailable, so I am substituting. Whenever I stand in for a Guardian blogger, I am always a bit nervous about which setter I am going to be faced with. Today, my nerves increased a bit when I saw the setter was Paul.
Enigmatic Variations No. 1724: First or Second by Vismut – placeholder
Apologies for the delay. The blog will be published this evening.
Private Eye (Cyclops / 819) *Redacted redacted*
I normally make a headline for the Eye blog using a couple of the answers from the puzzle but I have redacted them this time.
Not because they are tremendously rude – it’s an Eye puzzle so anything may appear – but because some of you reading this might not have tackled the puzzle yet. You might not have realised the current issue very unusually is only for 1 week instead of the usual fortnight.
If so, go away and try this puzzle before coming back here. Link https://www.private-eye.co.uk/crossword
Financial Times 18,241 by IO
A head-scratcher from Io this morning.
Coming soon … MyCrossword Featured Puzzle
I’ve been liaising with those nice people at https://mycrossword.co.uk
Independent 12228 / Crosophile
Regular Independent setters are not in their usual place this week, so we have a Crosophile puzzle this Wednesday.
Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,880 by Imogen
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29880.Tough
Inquisitor 1937: Made in Britain by Encota
Today’s blog explains a puzzle by Encota, who is a setter who has appeared in the Inquisitor five times previously, dating back to September 2017. All the puzzles have had completely different themes, so it will be interesting to see what we have this week.
Independent 12,227 by Phi
Phi ventures out of his usual Friday schedule to set today’s challenge.
Guardian 29,879 / Chandler
A fairly rare appearance by Chandler in the Cryptic slot
Financial Times 18,240 by GAFF
This remarkable workout from Gaff bears the epigraph “A birthday puzzle” . . .
Spectator 2731 Knots by Pabulum
I understand that Pabulum no longer contributes regularly but this is a welcome return …
Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,878 by Vulcan
Apologies for the delayed blog, I’m currently travelling and couldn’t fit this in earlier. Many thanks to Vulcan for the puzzle.