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 26,597 / Paul

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Oops, a very rushed blog post, since while we solved the puzzle quickly, I forgot about writing the post until 23:40 on Friday evening… Anyway, this theme (the songs of ABBA) was up … Read more >>

Guardian 26,501 / Pasquale

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It’s always a pleasure to post about a Pasquale crossword, which for me hasn’t come round in a while. This one had a theme, introduced in this rubric: Eight solutions are individuals of … Read more >>

Guardian 26,477 / Paul

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A satisfying prize crossword from Paul; not too difficult but lots to enjoy. There was a nice mini-theme relating to the placement of the letter M, both in 1a,9 and 14a (which had … Read more >>

Guardian 26,453 / Paul

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After the slog of the big Christmas crossword, this was a welcome relief – a fun and fairly quick solve, lots of excellent clues as you can always expect from Paul. Happy New … Read more >>

Guardian 26,430 / Brummie

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I think this was the toughest prize puzzle we’ve done in while (admittedly we’re mostly just doing them on blogging weeks at the moment due to lack of time), but a satisfying one … Read more >>

Guardian 26,406 / Philistine

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An enteratining puzzle from Philistine with a theme of nautical terminology. Across 1. Where to conduct fight or flight may be patio to a real 11! (7) COCKPIT Definitions: “Where to conduct fight … Read more >>

Guardian 26,382 / Puck

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Apologies for this being a rather more terse post than usual, but I’m afraid I’m recovering from an illness at the moment. This was a typically enjoyable crossword from Puck, whose cluing I … Read more >>

Guardian 26,358 / Puck

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A very difficult prize crossword, but with all of Puck’s usual wit and ingenuity. The theme is ANTEATERs, and the word ANTEATER appears hidden in the centre of the grid: … if you … Read more >>

Guardian 26,334 / Paul

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As ever a very entertaining crossword from Paul. This wasn’t a difficult solve, but great fun. My favourite clues were 23a,26a and 13a, which are both excellent. The only slight oddity here was … Read more >>

Guardian 26,310 / Philistine

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We found this quite hard – generally inventive and enjoyable, although there were a few clues that let it down for me. I’ve mentioned those below, but there were some stand-out excellent clues … Read more >>

Guardian 26,286 / Tramp

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This is another of Tramp’s excellent densely themed crosswords: the subject of this one, as he said on Twitter was the England vs Italy match that took place on the Saturday when the … Read more >>