Some setters use more than one pseudonym …
Independent 12,241 by Raich
Happy New Year from Raich, and from me – best wishes for 2026.
Guardian 29,892 / Vlad
A cracker of a puzzle from Vlad to lead us into the new year.
Financial Times 18,256 by JASON
Happy New Year to all setters, bloggers, commenters and lurkers.
Guardian Special 3 by Ludwig
There have been requests for a blog for the Christmas special crossword from Ludwig – which I found on the e-paper app on 23 December. It was in the printed Christmas supplement, some of which can be found online here, the puzzle is to be found here
Inquisitor index: 2026
Puzzles 1941 –
Enigmatic Variations No.1726 – Gripping Yarns by Luxor
“Two clues are provided for each of the shaded rows. Solvers must reorder the letters of their answers to give two creatures which might feature in GRIPPING YARNS. These are to be entered consecutively. Solvers must highlight a three-word phrase (13 cells in a straight line) describing the overall theme. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
Guardian Cryptic crossword No 29,891 by Maskarade
Thanks to Maskarade for the puzzle, with nice clues and a very helpful grid. Happy New Year, all.
Independent 12,240 by Bluth
That was fun!
Financial Times 18,255 by GOLIATH
Great fun from Goliath.
Independent 12,239 / Kairos
Today sees me posting my last blog of 2025 rather later than expected, but here it is. This Tuesday sees the latest puzzle by Kairos, whose work I have rarely blogged as it has tended to appear at the beginning of the week.
Inquisitor 1939: Close Quarters by Vagans
Yes, it’s us again blogging as Ken is in hospital – hope that things are steadily improving Ken and that you are able to ‘hop about’ OK.
Guardian 29,890 – Ramsay
A new setter, I believe, to (almost) end the year on (1 across is appropriate). It took me a while to get on the right wavelength, and there were a few clues where I got the answer from the definition but struggled to parse the wordplay. There were some easier clues too, with some helpful anagrams, so a very promising debut.
Thanks and welcome to Ramsay
Financial Times 18,254 by GURNEY
Some interesting long solutions today from Gurney.
MyCrossword Featured crossword No 1 by PostMark
As a debutant blogger I’m honoured to be writing up the first MyCrossword Featured puzzle, which can be found here: https://mycrossword.co.uk/featured/1