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 28,569 / Crucible

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A welcome return for Crucible to fill the mid-week slot. We have a practically unmissable, I think, impressively wide-ranging theme of sports and games, in both clues and answers, with characteristically sound cluing … Read more >>

Guardian 28,562 / Philistine

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It’s six months since I blogged a Philistine puzzle – but this one was well worth the wait. I found this completely absorbing and enjoyable from beginning to end. As usual with this … Read more >>

Guardian 28,558 / Paul

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I’m standing in for Andrew, who’s holidaying in the Highlands, lucky chap. My heart sank a bit when, on a quick run-through, I saw all the references to ‘6’ but I’d solved 22ac … Read more >>

Guardian 28,555 / Brendan

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A bit of a surprise – by no means an unpleasant one  – to see Brendan on a Monday and especially so soon after last week’s ‘Prize’ puzzle. I thought this was a … Read more >>

Guardian 28,553 / Paul

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It’s Paul rounding off a generally good week of puzzles. I found this fairly straightforward, to both solve and parse. There are some witty and ingenious clues – rather fewer of them, owing … Read more >>

Guardian 28,546 / Imogen

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Imogen sets the challenge today, with his customary medley of straightforward and some more tricky clues. My favourites were 9, 11,and 26ac and 10, 17 and 20dn. One bit of parsing (4dn) escapes … Read more >>

Guardian 28,539 / Picaroon

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Another cracker of a puzzle from Picaroon to brighten yet another dull morning. There’s the customary wit and elegance in the cluing, with some great definitions and surfaces – and one or two … Read more >>

Guardian 28,532 / Boatman

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Boatman sets today’s challenge with an unmistakably themed puzzle. It’s a fairly typical Boatman offering, with the theme word repeated throughout the clues – which can get rather tedious, although the theme is … Read more >>

Guardian 28,525 / Vulcan

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Vulcan starts the week with a fairly typical Monday medley. A couple of the ‘cryptic’ definitions are rather questionable but, on the whole, Vulcan fulfils the brief of providing the traditional ‘gentle start … Read more >>

Guardian 28,523 / Paul

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Paul rounds off the week with a challenge that I found interesting and enjoyable – and ultimately frustrating. The key to the puzzle is obviously 20ac, which proved to have two aspects – … Read more >>