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 24,617 / Araucaria

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In the absence of the scheduled blogger, I’m offering this as a late substitute, so apologies for any typos, etc.  I didn’t expect to be blogging this puzzle, so made no notes as … Read more >>

Guardian 24,621 / Araucaria

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Another treat of a puzzle from Araucaria, ingeniously celebrating the 200th ‘birthday’ of both Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln. There are a couple of answers where I look forward to clarification, which I’m … Read more >>

Guardian 24,566 / Rufus

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Another pleasant start to the week from Rufus, with his usual sprinkling of cryptic definitions, but nothing too demanding and not much to comment on. [I find, to my great embarrassment, that my … Read more >>

Guardian 24,564 / Brendan

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The usual entertainment value from this Brendan puzzle, with its elegant surfaces, clever anagrams and cunningly hidden answers. It included four reiterative phrases neatly placed around the perimeter, plus another one at 13ac, … Read more >>

GUARDIAN 24,540 / PUCK

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I’m sure there’s a witty title that could be given to this very ingenious and entertaining puzzle, with its themes of days and British pop but I found the puzzle itself challenging enough!  … Read more >>

Guardian 24518/Rufus

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A pretty straightforward puzzle from Rufus,  with no real ‘complications’ [one of two rather weak clues, I thought] and perhaps fewer cryptic clues than usual. dd: double definition cd: cryptic definition [*]: anagram … Read more >>

Guardian 24502/Orlando

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I think I’m fortunate to have been allocated a reasonable puzzle for my first blog – straightforward and fair without being too easy to be interesting. A couple of old crossword favourites, 12ac … Read more >>