Guardian Genius

After two very tough offerings from Paul and Brummie, this required very little genius in either solving the clues or fitting the answers into the grid. An enjoyable enough puzzle, and a clever … Read more >>

As a newcomer to the Genius since the site went free, I found this OK but a little – not hard to get going with, but tough to finish because the entry method … Read more >>

Although I’ve been a subscriber to the Guardian crossword website for some years now, this is the first time that I’ve attempted a Genius crossword.  Having managed to complete this one without too … Read more >>

A challenging solve, especially for those unfamiliar with Paul’s somewhat libertarian approach; but plenty of fun, and I got through it pretty quickly once I’d solved about four. All answers begin with the … Read more >>

There were three kinds of clue here: 13 were ‘beset by inflation’ — they each included an extra letter. 13 were ‘beset by recession’ — a character string (not necessarily a whole word) … Read more >>

Solving time: 24 minutes.  One I tackled while in hospital.  Although it wasn’t the most satisfying of puzzles, it held me while I worked out whether each of the homophone double answers could … Read more >>

When I first downloaded this one, it lacked a preamble. Having solved it without one (not boasting or anything!), I returned to the website, where a brief preamble had been added. The principle, … Read more >>

The theme required solutions to be adapted before entry but said nothing of the clues. Noticing that the answer lengths were one or two less than the grid lengths this suggested some addition … Read more >>

Thematic answers are all types of of light, camera or action. These clues don’t have definitions, apart from the number referring to 1d, 2d or 3d. Once you work that out, without a … Read more >>

Solving time: a couple of hours or so This was harder than it looked on the surface. I’ve been solving the Listener puzzle for a couple of years now, so clues with a … Read more >>

When Neil asked for someone to blog this one, I had just printed it out, so I readily volunteered, having to date completed all the Geniuses I have attempted, most of them without … Read more >>

A pleasing puzzle based on the affectionate nickname of the paper, famous for its misprints. The eight-letter words had to be entered by shifting their letters in the same way so e.g. as … Read more >>

This was the least challenging Genius for a while, but it was an enjoyable solve, nonetheless. Once you solved the across clues, you were left with a fairly straightforward anagram, and the down … Read more >>

The trouble with blogging a monthly crossword comes if you don’t write your blog after solving. It’s a month since I solved this, I’ve dug out the paper and it looks like random … Read more >>

I’ve not done these before but the Genius series is monthly series in the online (only) Guardian that offers a preambled themed puzzle which doesn’t require frequent round-trips to Chambers. Yet. This month’s … Read more >>