This page is for the discussion of general crossword related matters and other topics of interest.
This page was updated on 2026-08-21 at 15:34:44
Comments posted before 2026-08-21 can be found here.
Never knowingly undersolved
This page is for the discussion of general crossword related matters and other topics of interest.
This page was updated on 2026-08-21 at 15:34:44
Comments posted before 2026-08-21 can be found here.
Hey Guys,
I know this is super random. I made a little game: you get a sentence and have to say the same thing in exactly five of its own words.
A nice little exercise. A new one every day. Called Long Story Short
https://sheets.works/long-story-short
I wouldn’t click a stranger’s link either, which is fair. Google “Long Story Short Game by Sheets.Works” and we’re the first result.
Best,
Akash
No sign of or reference to the blog of the MyCrossword Featured Puzzle today?
GUARDIAN CRYPTIC 15,000
I have a copy of the Guardian’s Cryptic #15,000 set by CUSTOS – published on 20th Feb 1978 – It was my first attempt many moons ago at a cryptic and it didn’t go well but it didnt put me off.
Having found it recently I managed to complete it – so some improvement over the years.
I was naively expecting #30,000 to be in a similar vein but I found with its linkage to past puzzles and its connection with the Genius crossword quite challenging and it took a fair while to complete.
I thought I’d share and it can be found using this link https://files.catbox.moe/0j283f.png
Can anyone explain what the word ‘free’ means on the end of 26 across?
Working on tge Guardian cryptic crossword bank holiday special by Masksrade. There is a mistake in 45/65. It states the answer is (3,3,4:5) but it most definitely should be (3,4,3:5).
Amazingly, this was the first of the special clues that we figured out and that opened up the whole crossword to us.
Les @4 – You might want to put that question in the blog for the actual puzzle
In 30103 by Paul the theme was men’s colognes. Isn’t this advertising?
For anyone doing today’s FT crossword, the numerous references to “5 13” seem to be a typo. They should be “5 18”
Ian M@8: what if it was? I for one will not be rushing to buy one of the brands just because it appeared in a crossword. Perhaps Paul missed a trick by not fitting into the grid, and finding a long anagram for, OTHER FRAGRANCES ARE AVAILABLE.
Can anyone advise me how to get the keyboard to appear in the new Guardian crossword app please(Samsung tablet)
Blues Exile @10: try double-tapping a clue. You might prefer to revert to the previous crossword style by changing the settings: puzzles tab, scroll down to crossword archive and tap, then tap the vertical “…” top-right, then Settings, and turn off “Enable new crosswords”. Try not to tap “Delete all crosswords”, as it does so without prompting for confirmation; did for me anyway… I too have a Samsung tablet.
Thanks Ronan F
Double click worked
The app for the FT crossword will not load after crossword 18495. Any ideas please?
Can’t help you, SM, but I came here to say there’s no FT Sunday puzzle today – would normally expect the World puzzle on the first Sunday of the month.
Hadn’t noticed the Saturday cryptic isn’t online either – can anyone confirm it appeared in print?
I came for the same reason. The polymath, Saturday cryptic and weekend crossword are on the website but not in the app.
The Sunday does not appear in either.
The puzzle for Saturday appears in the print edition but not in the app.
Found a link for printable copy for sunday world from googling
https://www.ft.com/content/4adaa66b-a0b5-438a-9325-737f5a9d1084
Well done and thanks, Julia!
Can’t make any promises but there may be a blog of the puzzle appearing later.
Just commented under the blog for today’s FT puzzle.
Like others above I can no longer download the interactive version of FT puzzles. All the puzzles up to and including Friday can still be downloaded as the interactive version.
But after that I can only open up the printable format and since I haven’t got a printer that is no use.
Anyone know why this is.
Since the puzzle is still available albeit only in printable form it can’t be to stop people doing it – so why remove the interactive option?
Looks like they have now added the missing puzzles today
Julia C
Thanks
We’ve noticed that the pre-amble for today’s GEMELO No. 50 is missing from the pdf. In case you can’t access it, here it is…
Anagram Act
In order to solve each clue, solvers must act to unscramble a word that has been anagrammed; first letters of the de-anagrammed words explain what must fill the unclued entries. I was pleasantly surprised to discover Chambers recognises “anagram” as a verb, but “de-anagram” is yet to make it – the petition starts now.
The preamble makes it sound more scary than it is . Everyone should have a go , my favourite puzzle of the whole year so far .
Fully agree, Roz. Gemelo’s best to date I thought and perhaps he saved it for his 50th !
Gemelo 50 felt more like a Genius with having to manipulate each clue and then find unclued entries, but none the worse for that. In fact, the Genius puzzles usually have easier clues to compensate for the trickery, but that was not the case here. Definitely worth devoting a bit of time to.
JoFT I agree it had a Genius feel. I recall that Gemelo, in his guise as Twin, has set the Genius before. The last one (from last year, I think) was based around the Two Ronnies Mastermind sketch. Very memorable.
I never do the Genius because it is not in the paper but people bring it to me at work when they need help . So I never do much of it but I have always found the clues a bit underwhelming , same for the Listener . I suppose I just prefer hard clues rather than the extra puzzle aspect . This Gemelo puzzle had outstanding clues apart from just two , and a minimal endgame .
Anyone know if you get an acknowledgement when submitting the Genius answers?
On tapping the submit button on my phone it seems to accept the tap, but the page just goes blank and there’s no other response. I don’t remember this happening before. I’ve tried submitting again with the same result. I don’t think I can be bothered keying it all yet another time. 🫤
Roz@27 the current month’s Genius by Enigmatist is challenging to say the least when it comes to clue difficulty and it’s a jigsaw. The end game, though fun, isn’t actually necessary to fill the grid. You may like it.
Crossbar@28 I’ve had the same thing happen to me but I think you’ll find you have submitted correctly. The confirmation message appears only briefly but you need to have scrolled back up to the top of the page to see it.
Crossbar@28: I’ve only submitted the Genius on a computer but all your answers disappear when you hit submit and the page looks blank until you scroll back to the top. I don’t recall seeing a proper acknowledgment message either.
Thanks Jay@29 and Jack@30. I did scroll back to the top but couldn’t see anything. Perhaps the acknowledgement had been & gone? It’s not very good design. Should be obvious.
So now I’ve submitted twice. Oops, it’s only one entry per person.
I’ve sent a query to the Graun and I’m told their puzzles team will investigate.
Jay@29 , nobody has brought this one to me yet , the last Enigmatist Genius I helped with was for male solvers only .
Me@31 Guardian support have confirmed that I did indeed submit successfully, twice. They didn’t seem to take on board that the process could do with a bit of improvement to make a successful submission obvious. 🤷
I guess there are more important things to worry about. 😀