Alia is this morning's setter.
Month: January 2026
Spectator 2,732 – Play it Tough by La Jerezana
An appropriately themed puzzle from La Jerezena.
Financial Times 18,259 by PETO
PETO kicks off the week…
Independent 12,244/Brunel
A beautifully constructed but challenging puzzle from Brunel for the Monday slot.
Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,895 by Vulcan
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29895.
Financial Times 18,258 by Zamorca
Puzzle from the Weekend FT of January 3, 2026
Financial Times Sunday 126 – World by Gaff
This month’s geographically themed puzzle is brought to us by Gaff. Find it to solve online or download and print at ft.com/crossword
Guardian Quiptic 1,363/Dice
A very quick search suggests that Dice has previously only compiled Quick Cryptics for the Guardian (which are also blogged on Fifteensquared). So a welcome to her in the Quiptic slot.
Independent on Sunday 1,871 by Filbert
Filbert on top form today
Gemelo No. 19 – first things first
I’m writing this here with no fear that passers-by will get information that detracts from their enjoyment of the puzzle, because it is all quite open: nothing has to be discovered (except perhaps the hint from the first clue). Gemelo has quite brilliantly used the first letters in the words of a well-known poem (until there are no more clues) to restrict the words in the clues and he has achieved this with the minimum of strain, although it must have been incredibly difficult. In fact I solved it all before bothering to look at the preamble. It wouldn’t have helped me in my solving. No doubt because of the restrictions I found this rather harder than Gemelo’s usual.
Why Gemelo makes it so difficult for himself I’m not sure. I eagerly await the day when he produces a puzzle like one of Azed’s excellent Specials, where the solver has to discover something. He seems quite capable of doing so.
Everyman 4,132
A pleasantly accessible crossword from Everyman this week. There is nothing so far as I can see that is controversial.
Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (homophone, hidden, containment, anagram, juxtaposition, etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in green.
Genius 270 by Pangakupu
Pangakupu provides December’s Genius
Independent 12243 by Eccles
As 2026 begins Eccles supplies the first Saturday savoury of the year.
Guardian Quick Cryptic 92 by Ludwig
This week’s 11 x 11 crossword from the Guardian intended to teach cryptic crosswords, found here
Cyclops 820 – 2025 Xmas Special
And so this is Christmas, and what have you solved?…another year over, a new Cyclops Xmas jumbo special just begun…