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 29,600 / Pangakupu

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Pangakupu rounds off the week with an enjoyable challenge. A nice variety of clue types, with some ingenious constructions and witty surfaces and definitions. I had ticks for 11ac HIP REPLACMENT, 21ac SPRING … Read more >>

Guardian 29,593 / Paul

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It’s Paul back again, with another themed puzzle, cleverly and interestingly exploited. Having said that, I have to add that anyone coming here for help with certain bits of parsing is likely to … Read more >>

Guardian 29,588 / Paul

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I’m standing in for scchua today and it’s Paul rounding off the weekday puzzles. Following the idea used in his two most recent puzzles, featuring sandwiches and parties, Paul offers us one with … Read more >>

Guardian 29,579 / Paul

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Paul rounds off the year in party mood, with a fun puzzle, which I enjoyed solving. There were some tricky bits of parsing but also several straightforward charades to get / keep things … Read more >>

Guardian 29,573 / Philistine

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It’s Philistine, with a rather chewier offering than usual for a Monday but really rewarding to work out. Philistine is up to all his tricks, with a medley of anagrams and an abundance … Read more >>

Guardian 29,571 / Picaroon

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Hurrah! After almost four months, I get a Picaroon puzzle to blog. I’m interested to hear how this one went down, after the mixed reaction to yesterday’s puzzle from Paul, where we were … Read more >>

Guardian 29,557 / Fed

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Fed makes a welcome return to the mid-week slot with a puzzle that I found most enjoyable and rewarding. Lots of clever and witty clues, as usual – just one piece of parsing … Read more >>

Guardian Prize 29,548 / Brummie

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It’s Brummie back on a Saturday, exactly four weeks since my blog of his most recent Prize puzzle. I always enjoy Brummie’s puzzle – but there’s an extra hazard here for the blogger: … Read more >>

Guardian 29,550 / Paul

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Paul is back again, with a quite challenging puzzle, which I really enjoyed … … in fact, this is one of those that I could say remind me of why Paul used to … Read more >>

Guardian 29,543 / Vulcan

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Vulcan starts the week in his customary fortnightly Monday slot. This should suit those who like a ‘gentle’ Monday puzzle – the traditional medley of anagrams and double and cryptic (some more so … Read more >>