What times we live in! Cyclops – please emit a puff of smoke and show us the way….
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Guardian Genius 262 by Enigmatist
Just like London buses…you wait ages (since 2018!) for an Enigmatist to blog, and then three come along in a row – two recent Grauniad Saturday Prize puzzles, and now Genius 262…
Guardian Easter Special Prize Cryptic Crossword No 29,673 set by Maskarade (19 April 2025)
They say that ‘all good things come to those who wait‘ and, after nearly four years and 46 Saturday Prize Grauniad blogs, I finally get to be on duty for an Easter Bank Holiday special! In recent years this has become pretty much the exclusive domain of Maskarade, who specialises in thematic jumbos/double grids, often with ‘jigsaw’ clues…and this one is no exception…
Enigmatic Variations No. 1691: Column 1 by Shark
Shark is giving us a bit of a clue that COLUMN 1 might contain some useful information!…
Cyclops 801 – Scam Ringleader
After the heady excitement of Cyclops’ 800th puzzle milestone last time out, he is ‘back to the day job’ of producing high quality puzzles satirising the high-and-mighty and playing fast-and-loose with the Venn diagram of cryptic puzzle convention and irreverence…
Enigmatic Variations No. 1687: I Am What I Am by Artix
Did anyone else have Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I AM WHAT I AM’ earworming as they solved this pretty tough jigsaw puzzle?…
Guardian Saturday Prize Crossword 29,649 by Enigmatist (22 March 2025)
I’m sure Lady Bracknell would have something to say about the coincidence of getting two Enigmatist Prize puzzles to blog in a row…maybe in that lesser-known book by Oscar Wilde – ‘The Importance of Blogging Enigmatist‘…
Cyclops 799 – Diplomatic Chainsaw
Cyclops is on the cusp of yet another numerical milestone…an octo-centenary!…
Enigmatic Variations No. 1683: Parking Offence by Chalicea
Has Chalicea been naughty and parked her car somewhere she shouldn’t have, committing a PARKING OFFENCE?…
Guardian Saturday Prize Crossword 29,625 by Enigmatist (22 February 2025)
Last week Eileen wrote of the ‘delight’ of landing an Arachne puzzle to blog, ‘especially on a Saturday, when there’s more time to savour it‘. This week it was more like the dread in the pit of the stomach on finding one has an Enigmatist! But at least it is a Saturday, so I should have plenty of time to struggle through it…
Cyclops 797 – Greenland Hypnotist
Cyclops is perhaps a little more Cyclops-ean than usual this fortnight…
Enigmatic Variations No. 1679: No Introduction by Gaston
Gaston says that this puzzle ‘requires NO INTRODUCTION’, so I won’t write one…
Guardian Saturday Prize Crossword 29,601 by Vlad (25 January 2025)
Vlad gives your correspondent a pretty tough mental workout this week…
Cyclops 795 – Pie-Eyed Wassailer
Cyclops laughs in the face of ‘Dry January’ (although I prefer to think of it as ‘Dry Gin-uary’…)
Enigmatic Variations No. 1675: Self-Similarity by Luxor
I’m going to put it out there – if we had an annual awards ceremony for the Enigmatic Variations (the Evvys?) – which we don’t – then Luxor would be strutting his/her stuff on the red carpet in a tux/ballgown, as a strong favourite for POTY (Puzzle of the Year) with SELF-SIMILARITY…