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 24,997 / Paul

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A fairly typical Paul puzzle, with  witty, cheeky, story-telling surfaces – but none of his really outrageous cluing. I hope the relatively new solvers whose confidence has been boosted in the last few … Read more >>

Guardian 24,982 / Rufus

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I found this more straightforward than last week’s Rufus but, I thought, rather  lacking in the expected sparkle. There are the usual fine surfaces but some rather tired wordplay, including AD = notice … Read more >>

Guardian 24,978 / Paul

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If there had been no name on this puzzle, I think it would not have taken regular solvers long to supply one. All the Pauline hallmarks are here: cheeky surfaces and / or … Read more >>

Guardian 24,968 / Bonxie

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A reasonably straightforward puzzle from Bonxie, with some nice touches. I have some quibbles with two or three definitions. Across 1   SCARECROW: anagram of CAW SCORER: this surface made me smile. 6  BOOM: … Read more >>

Guardian 24,958 / Rufus

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The usual Rufus combination of cryptic [not too many] and double definitions and elegant and witty surfaces. Across 7   PHILATELY: PHI [anagram of HIP] + LATELY 8   QUICK: double definition [‘quick’ = ‘living’ … Read more >>

Guardian 24,949 / Brendan

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I consider myself very fortunate in drawing this one, as I blogged the last Brendan. There’s the usual witty and clever cluing and enough cross-reference to add interest, without making it too easy. … Read more >>

Guardian 24,944 / Bonxie

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A quite quick second appearance  for  Bonxie this year,  considering we had only four of his / her puzzles last year [thanks, Andrew!]. There was nothing too taxing – some ingenious clues and … Read more >>

Guardian 24,934 / Rufus

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It’s Monday. A classic Rufus puzzle. No further preamble necessary. Across 1   CRUMBS: cryptic definition: ‘Crumbs’ and Crikey’ were two favourite expressions of Billy Bunter, the ‘Fat Owl of the Remove’, in the … Read more >>

Guardian 24925 / Orlando

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A delightful puzzle from Orlando, which shouldn’t have caused too many problems on the bus or train and may have elicited curious looks from fellow-passengers at the smiles and ‘ahas’ along the way. … Read more >>