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 25,835 / Paul

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A classic Paul puzzle, brimming with clever, witty clues and ingenious constructions, providing several ahas and smiles while solving, along with – not surprisingly – a couple of lavatorial references.     16ac … Read more >>

Guardian 25,832 / Crucible

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Manehi has had travel problems today, so I’m a late substitute A most enjoyable topical puzzle on the theme of bells from Crucible, with all his usual wit and ingenuity, with lots of … Read more >>

Guardian 25,830 / Boatman

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A Christmas cracker from Boatman – a very clever puzzle, which exploits its theme to the full, with some very witty clues, ingenious constructions and excellent surfaces. I came a bit of a … Read more >>

Guardian 25,821 / Rufus

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A fairly typical Rufus mix of anagrams and double and cryptic definitions, with the usual silky-smooth surfaces, mostly straightforward, which is no bad thing at this busy time, with a couple of [for … Read more >>

Guardian Prize 25,814 / Paul

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A quick skim through the clues made me think I might not enjoy this theme much, because I didn’t expect to know some of the answers.  ‘North American food’ didn’t sound like my … Read more >>

Guardian 25,817 / Araucaria

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What looked for a while like a typically Araucarian mixture of obscurity and straightforwardness, with a few liberties thrown in, turned out to have more going on than I realised. Definitions are underlined. … Read more >>

Guardian 25,806 / Picaroon

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I’m a great fan of Picaroon’s puzzles and there was no disappointment here: lots of witty and ingenious cluing, resulting in quite a bit of head-scratching, not least in the parsing department, followed … Read more >>

Independent 8150 / Mordred

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This is only my second [I think] foray into Indy blogging territory – standing in for Bert and Joyce today. The Guardian is my puzzle of choice but, since discovering 15², I do … Read more >>

Guardian 25,797 / Brendan

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When I opened my paper this morning to find Brendan’s name on this puzzle, rather than the expected Rufus, with a fair number  of inter-connected clues, I wondered whether I was in for … Read more >>

Guardian 25,793 / Boatman

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I found this hard going, mostly in the parsing department. If it had been a Saturday puzzle [which it could well have been] I might have got there in the end but I … Read more >>

Guardian 25,788 / Araucaria

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I think there might be some cries of ‘obscurity’ this morning but the less familiar [or unknown] solutions were all very fairly and clearly clued, I think. For me, the difficulties lay more … Read more >>