Eileen

I’ve been doing cryptic crosswords since university days, learning how with a group of friends in coffee breaks. The Guardian crossword has been part of my life for most of the time since. Since retiring from teaching (originally Classics and, subsequently, when that was dropped from the curriculum, mostly English and History), having serendipitously stumbled on 15², I discovered that I could get the Indy and FT puzzles online and so I now add those, when they are set by my favourite compilers. Occasionally, I try the Genius and have even submitted a few. (Some years ago, I won a Collins dictionary in the Guardian Prize lottery, which established it as my referred reference.) I don’t take note of solving times: I enjoy taking time savouring the construction and particularly the surface of clues and always feel slightly disappointed when I finish too quickly. My one regret is my complete failure to enthuse any member of my family with cryptic crosswords.

Guardian 28,951 / Picaroon

by

A highly entertaining offering from Picaroon, with a playful theme and lots of interesting references. Following my usual practice of working my way through the clues in order, I was about three quarters … Read more >>

Guardian 28,944 / Vulcan

by

A straightforwardly enjoyable puzzle from Vulcan – just right for the beginning of a busy week. My favourites were 5ac HUSBAND, 15ac BUSHINESS, 18ac MACON, 26ac ALIGNED, 5dn HASTE, 8dn DITHERS and 20dn … Read more >>

Guardian 28,942 / Paul

by

It’s Paul (but a rather different Paul) rounding off the weekday challenges with an interesting themed puzzle. The solve was straightforward enough – and the wizard theme at 7dn was clear, using both … Read more >>

Guardian 28,935 / Picaroon

by

It’s Picaroon, on top of his form (as ever) with a challenging puzzle that was very enjoyable and satisfying to solve. It was quite tough going, in both the solving and the parsing. … Read more >>

Guardian 28,928 / Paul

by

Paul sets the midweek challenge with a fairly straightforward puzzle, where the solve was helped by several long phrases in the answers. As always, my heart sank to see the number of composite … Read more >>

Guardian 28,921 / Qaos

by

It’s always good to see Qaos’ name on a puzzle, the only drawback, when one is blogging, being that his always have a theme, which is often difficult, if not impossible, for me … Read more >>

Guardian 28,912 / Picaroon

by

Picaroon rounds off the weekday puzzles with a characteristically entertaining and challenging puzzle. There are some fine anagrams to help things along and some mischievous misdirections ( a seeming containment indicator in 21ac) … Read more >>

Guardian 28,898 / Brendan

by

I’m always pleased to see Brendan’s name on a puzzle I’m down to blog, confident that I’m in for an interesting challenge – albeit with a nagging anxiety about detecting a theme. The … Read more >>