This page is for the discussion of general crossword related matters and other topics of interest.
Comments posted before 2026-05-23 can be found here.
Never knowingly undersolved
This page is for the discussion of general crossword related matters and other topics of interest.
Comments posted before 2026-05-23 can be found here.
Some years ago I printed out the classic Guardian 16176, which features the classic and well-beloved Araucaria Anagram.
After picking it up every six months or so I have just put in the last three clues. But there’s one of them I just can’t get the last bit of parsing on.
Obviously I came here to see a blog. But, nothing, alas! And the crossword itself seems to have vanished from the Guardian Archive.
I was wondering if, perhaps, someone else might want to try to solve it? If you can find a copy to put up / link to?
There’s a copy from the archive scan at https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8f388bd19bdcb075b308b811bec5fd155c640e8c/0_0_883_2048/master/883.jpg?width=1140&dpr=2&s=none&crop=none . Which ones are you stuck on?
29A. Can’t make AD from first to get old…
First = A
Old copper = D , pre-decimal currency LSD
Green = vert .
Thanks Roz!
Piers, hello. Haven’t crossed paths in too long! Not wholly examined but what if instead of getting it from “first to get old” you got those two letters from even more of the clue? Thanks for heads-up Hamish.
Hey Alan! Long time no see indeed! Hope you’re keeping well.
Ta for the tip. And I notice that not only has the crossword in question been restored to the Guardian Archive, it’s now fillable in the new style too …
@8 (& @6)
Thanks Alan. Above and beyond!
I never do the Guardian Genius puzzle because it is online only but for the 30000 special someone brought it to me at work for a bit of help . I see the blog here has now arrived so can I ask if online was there a female version as well ?
I also recall there was a female name in the puzzle so the Guardian must know we exist .
Roz @ 11
The blog mentions a female genius who, sadly, was overlooked when the Nobel Prizes for the DNA helix were announced. There is a comment on the Genius blog that shares your disappointment at the lack of females in the grid.
Thank you Duncan , my mother named me after Rosalind Franklin . Sadly she died well before the Nobel and they are not awarded posthumously but she would probably have been overlooked anyway . I was frankly staggered by the sheer maleness of this puzzle but I suppose it is no surprise really . I wonder if Katharine Viner knows about it .
Roz: I too came to this for the first time today because, like you, I only do the puzzles in the paper. The grid contains two women: WINONA, clued as such, and SUE, by coincidence. ROZ is very nearly there, which would have made a small difference to the genius imbalance; but, seriously, it’s crass, isn’t it?
[I saw a wonderful orange moon for a few minutes shortly after 9.30 yesterday, but thereafter it was masked by thin cloud, at least until I went to bed. Thanks again.]