Eileen's avatarEileen

I’ve been doing cryptic crosswords since university days, learning how with a group of friends in coffee breaks. The Guardian crossword has been part of my life for most of the time since. Since retiring from teaching (originally Classics and, subsequently, when that was dropped from the curriculum, mostly English and History), having serendipitously stumbled on 15², I discovered that I could get the Indy and FT puzzles online and so I now add those, when they are set by my favourite compilers. Occasionally, I try the Genius and have even submitted a few. (Some years ago, I won a Collins dictionary in the Guardian Prize lottery, which established it as my referred reference.) I don’t take note of solving times: I enjoy taking time savouring the construction and particularly the surface of clues and always feel slightly disappointed when I finish too quickly. My one regret is my complete failure to enthuse any member of my family with cryptic crosswords.

Guardian 25,788 / Araucaria

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I think there might be some cries of ‘obscurity’ this morning but the less familiar [or unknown] solutions were all very fairly and clearly clued, I think. For me, the difficulties lay more … Read more >>

Guardian 25,783 / Paul

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A highly entertaining, characteristically Paul puzzle today, with lots of witty, clever and misleading surfaces and wordplay, so plenty of smiles and ‘aha’ moments to help the solving along.  Many thanks, Paul, for … Read more >>

Guardian 25,773 / Rufus

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I’m surprised to find that it’s almost four months since I blogged a Rufus puzzle. Here we have the familiar collection of clever anagrams, interspersed with double and cryptic definitions, several of which … Read more >>

Guardian Prize 25,766 / Tramp

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  Following recent Prize puzzles from relative newcomers Qaos and Picaroon, here’s Tramp’s welcome first appearance in the Saturday slot [although he has written some excellent Genius puzzles]. We were expecting it, because … Read more >>

Guardian 25,769 / Brendan

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Apologies for the slight delay in the appearance of this blog: infuriatingly, I managed to delete it at the point of posting – so more apologies in advance for any typos due to … Read more >>

Guardian 25,759 / Paul

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A themed puzzle from Paul, which may well open up discussion along familiar lines: those familiar with the theme were probably able to fill in a number of the answers from the enumeration … Read more >>

Guardian Prize25,742 / Puck

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From the Guardian Alan Connor’s ‘Meet the Setter’ interview with Puck: ‘What do you think goes through a solver’s mind when she [sic] sees that it’s a Puck puzzle?’ ‘I can only guess … Read more >>

Guardian 25,745 / Orlando

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Another wonderfully witty and elegant puzzle from Orlando, with some very ingenious wordplay and several laugh-out-loud moments. I enjoyed every minute of it – many thanks for the fun, Orlando. [Definitions are underlined] … Read more >>

Guardian 25,740 / Araucaria

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I’m not very good at spotting ninas but these days the name of the game seems to be  ‘Spot the error’.  However, Araucaria is not noted for either and I found this an … Read more >>

Guardian 25,735 / Brummie

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A not-too-taxing but interesting puzzle, with some very nice touches, including several ‘lift-and-separate’ clues, which I enjoyed solving and blogging. There is a mini-theme, which I only discovered when writing the blog, so … Read more >>

Guardian 25,725 / Brendan

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Something of a surprise – but I’m not complaining! – to see Brendan’s name again so soon, on an interesting puzzle with cleverly interlinking clues, which all fell out without too much difficulty … Read more >>