mhl

Although I had some early attempts to solve cryptic crosswords as a teenager, it was only in my late 20s (and mostly thanks to fifteensquared!) that I became reasonably competent as a solver. However, despite being a slow solver I found that I had a knack for parsing clues, and volunteered to do a weekly blog post on the Guardian crossword. After a few years, I had to drop down to being on the Guardian Prize rota, but eventually found that with two young children to look after, I didn't have time even for that. I'm still hoping to resume blogging more regularly when they're a little older!

Guardian 28,081 / Picaroon

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I hope all 15² bloggers and commenters are looking after yourselves and others in these worrying times. To take our mind off things a bit, there was this lovely puzzle from Picaroon – … Read more >>

Guardian 28,010 / Maskarade

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This was the bumper Guardian Christmas crossword by Maskarade, with a theme of place names around Great Britain. We thought this was a good theme, and an impressive grid fill – it was … Read more >>

Guardian 27,986 / Paul

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One of those crosswords where there are too many great clues to pick out any particular favourites! We found it of moderate difficulty for a prize, solving it in one session. Many thanks … Read more >>

Guardian 27,962 / Paul

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We really struggled with this one, perhaps because of a combination of some tough clues, obscure answers, and the grid being low on checked letters. Good puzzle (thank-you Paul!) with some wonderful surface … Read more >>

Guardian 27,938 / Paul

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It gets increasingly hard to think of anything novel to say in this bit, so, as usual: this crossword is great – Paul’s the best 🙂 Across 9. Trump’s change of policy dealing … Read more >>

Guardian 27,914 / Paul

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This took a few sittings over the week for us to finish, but it was a very enjoyable process – lots of silliness and lovely surface readings. Thanks, Paul! Across 9. Big comedown … Read more >>

Guardian 27890 / Enigmatist

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Although this is a very clever crossword, for us it was definitely of the “too difficult to be really enjoyable” type! Across 1. What’s deer caught? It’s a fish (11) STICKLEBACK A reverse … Read more >>

Guardian 27,866 / Paul

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We both really like these alphabetical jigsaw (which I remember someone on this site referring to as “Araubeticals” since they were such a speciality of Araucaria). This is an excellent one from Paul. … Read more >>

Guardian 27,842 / Paul

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A rushed post as we head off on holiday, so I hope I haven’t missed too much! The puzzle was a very enjoyable test, with a couple of trickier clues in the South … Read more >>

Guardian 27,818 / Paul

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A fairly straightforward prize puzzle on the whole, I thought, though I had some trouble with 1d and 11a,2a. Lots to enjoy and appreciate here! Thanks, Paul. Across 1. Sad feeling, Brexit dealer … Read more >>

Guardian 27,794 / Paul

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It’s always a pleasure to blog about one of Paul’s crosswords, because they’re always fair and very entertaining – this one was no exception. One thing I particularly liked here is Paul not … Read more >>

Guardian 27,746 / Puck

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I haven’t solved a Puck puzzle in a while, so this was a pleasant reminder of why I like this setter: Puck’s crosswords are always witty and fun to solve. There’s a couple … Read more >>

Guardian 27,722 / Crucible

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A fun but fairly easy prize puzzle from Crucible, with a theme of paintings The painting-related answers are: GLAIR NATIONAL GALLERY TEMPERA MATISSE NIOBE (perhaps – there are lots of paintings of Niobe) … Read more >>