Eccles continues in his regular Wednesday slot.
Financial Times 18,138 by IO
IO is a bit gentler today (and has been for his last few appearances).
Guardian 29,778 – Yank
I found this quite hard to get into, and some clues took me a while to parse even when I had the answer. Unsurprisingly there are a few American references that may be unfamiliar. Thanks to Yank for the puzzle,
New Search Facility
In response to this comment from nearly three years ago.
I have implemented a new plugin to replace the standard WordPress search.
Inquisitor 1920: Sunken Island by The Ace of Hearts
It looks like we see The Ace of Hearts about once a year.
Preamble: One letter must be added to each clue to enable solving; in clue order these letters spell the first ten words of a quotation from a film (available on the IMDb website).
Financial Times 18,137 by JASON
Thank you to Jason. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Independent 12,125 by Atrica
Atrica sets the Tuesday challenge this week.
Cryptic crossword No 29,777 by Philistine
Philistine is today’s setter.
Financial Times 18,136 by SLORMGORM
SLORMGORM kicks off the week…
Independent 12,124 by Hoskins
This was a fairly gentle puzzle with no particularly difficult clues.
Cryptic crossword No 29,776 by Brummie
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29776.
Financial Times 18,135 by Guy
Puzzle from the Weekend FT of August 16, 2025
Listener No 4877, “Romantic Piece”, A Setter’s Blog by Pandiculator
I wrote this puzzle in July 2023, so my memory of parts of the setting process is a little hazy. That said, the folder on my PC that I used for constructing it allows for a bit of archaeology, so I’ll outline the setting process here.
Guardian Quiptic 1,343/Chandler
Chandler has the Quiptic for us this week. Let’s see what the beginners and less experienced solvers made of this one.
Independent on Sunday 1,851 by Filbert
In the words of 3dn, another nutty dish from Filbert