Skip to content

Buy Me a Coffee

Fifteensquared

Never knowingly undersolved

  • Home
  • Info
    • Setters
    • Bloggers
    • FAQ
    • Links
    • About Fifteensquared
  • Blogs
    • Enigmatic Variations
    • FT
      • FT Daily Cryptic
      • FT Jumbo
      • FT Sunday
    • Guardian
      • Guardian Genius
      • Guardian Quiptic
      • Quick Cryptic
    • Independent
    • Inquisitor
    • Listener
    • MyCrossword Featured Puzzle
    • Observer
      • Everyman
      • Azed
      • Gemelo
    • Private Eye/Cyclops
    • Spectator
  • Share your thoughts
    • Site Feedback
    • General Discussion
  • Policies
    • Site Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookies
  • Newbie Corner

kenmac

In early 2022 I took over administration for this site. Born 1954. I've been fascinated by cryptic crosswords since childhood. My mother used to attempt the Daily Mail cryptic every day but I don't remember her ever finishing one. Then, when I started working, a colleague would bring in The Telegraph every day. It wasn't till my daughter started to get interested, when I bought her a "how to" book that I realized that the definition is "always" the first word (or words) or the last word (or words) of the clue. In 2000 I discovered the, then, Independent Weekend Crossword (now Inquisitor) and later Enigmatic Variations and The Listener. I solve The Inquisitor most weeks and won the Champagne once. In 2005 I achieved an ambition by having a barred crossword published in The Independent using the pseudonym Cayenne. Then I had another one in 2015 in collaboration with Anax. This was Inquisitor 1839.

Inquisitor 1751: Picnic by Kruger

Tue May 24, 2022 at 11:24 pmTue May 24, 2022 at 10:00 am by kenmac

  Picnic by Kruger Clues are given in alphabetical order of their answers which must be entered where they will fit. However, two entries are unclued; together they form a pictorial representation of … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 10 Comments

Inquisitor 1746: Calculations by Vismut

Tue April 19, 2022 at 10:00 am by kenmac

Calculations by Vismut Extra letters in some clues spell out consecutive operations in two calculations that the unclued across entry might have made – one reading down through the clues and one reading … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 25 Comments

Inquisitor 1743: Combined Help by eXternal

Tue March 29, 2022 at 10:00 am by kenmac

Combined Help by eXternal Each across clue contains a superfluous word; in clue order second letters of the words give an author and penultimate letters give a work. Wordplay in each down clue … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 17 Comments

Inquisitor 1739: All Present and Correct by Eclogue

Tue March 1, 2022 at 10:00 am by kenmac

All Present and Correct by Eclogue Silvered entries are to be deduced from the eight thematic clues, listed in alphabetical order of their solutions, which lack definitions. Initial letters of these entries can … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 17 Comments

Inquisitor 1735: Gold by Karla

Tue February 1, 2022 at 11:20 amTue February 1, 2022 at 10:00 am by kenmac

Gold by Karla The wordplay in each of twelve clues contains a superfluous word which may be assigned to one of three thematic sets of four. In the complete grid, solvers must highlight … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 14 Comments

Inquisitor 1731: Retro by Encota

Tue January 4, 2022 at 10:00 am by kenmac

Retro by Encota Stage 1 is somewhat like the old ‘Minesweeper’ game where the solver must locate the ‘mines’. The integer in each cell equates to the number of ‘mines’ that are in … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 27 Comments

Inquisitor 1727: On Track by Phi

Wed December 8, 2021 at 10:02 pmTue December 7, 2021 at 10:00 am by kenmac

On Track by Phi Nineteen clues are unnumbered and their answers are to be entered where they will fit, after being treated. The mode of treatment is hinted at by the three words … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 9 Comments

Inquisitor 1723: Bandits Scuppered Her Plans by Radler

Tue November 9, 2021 at 10:00 am by kenmac

Bandits Scuppered Her Plans by Radler In twelve thematic clues the entry is formed by changing the defined answer in one of two ways. Wordplay and letter counts refer to the entry. Eleven … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 11 Comments

Inquisitor 1719: Whowasdun by Charybdis

Tue October 12, 2021 at 10:54 pmTue October 12, 2021 at 10:00 am by kenmac

  Whowasdun by Charybdis 35ac and the title of a detective mystery are to be deduced and the detective (thematically affected) highlighted in the grid. Alas, the person addressed in the title (4, … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 21 Comments

Inquisitor 1715: For Her Eyes Only by Artix

Wed September 15, 2021 at 11:20 pmTue September 14, 2021 at 10:00 am by kenmac

  For Her Eyes Only by Artix Initial letters of single extra words in 11 clues may be rearranged to give the author of a series of works whose eponym – omitting an … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 23 Comments

Inquisitor 1711: Across the Board by Opsimath

Mon August 23, 2021 at 9:59 amTue August 17, 2021 at 10:00 am by kenmac

  Across the Board by Opsimath Clues are listed in alphabetical order of their answers, which are to be fitted into the grid wherever they will go. Ten thematic answers (two of 2 … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 27 Comments

Inquisitor 1707: Passing Thought by Nutmeg

Tue July 20, 2021 at 10:37 pmTue July 20, 2021 at 10:00 am by kenmac

Passing Thought by Nutmeg Each across clue has a single-letter misprint in its definition. Correct letters in clue order form a sequence, stripped of its first and last elements, connected with a celebrated … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 23 Comments

Inquisitor 1703: War and Peace by eXtent

Tue June 22, 2021 at 10:39 amTue June 22, 2021 at 10:00 am by kenmac

War and Peace by eXtent Across clues comprise wordplay and definition for answers in symmetrically opposite grid entries, either of which may be clued first. One of the answers in each clue with … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 15 Comments

Inquisitor 1699 An Alternative Guide to Wonderland by Phi

Thu May 27, 2021 at 3:32 pmTue May 25, 2021 at 10:00 am by kenmac

  An Alternative Guide to Wonderland by Phi Most clues define the answer that is entered but have wordplay that ignores up to four letters of that answer. The cells containing these ignored … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 12 Comments

Inquisitor 1695: Sign Up Here! by Ploy

Tue April 27, 2021 at 3:45 pmTue April 27, 2021 at 10:00 am by kenmac

Sign Up Here! by Ploy A group of two or three letters must be removed from each of ten clues, to form new clues to be solved. In the remaining clues, the wordplay … Read more >>

Categories Inquisitor 17 Comments
Older posts
Newer posts
← Previous Page1 … Page7 Page8 Page9 … Page19 Next →

Announcements

Today’s Cryptics

Daily
Financial Times
Guardian
Independent
Sunday
Azed
Everyman
Gemelo

Recent Posts

  • Independent 12,387 by Mog
  • Guardian Quick Cryptic 116 by Chandler
  • Guardian Saturday Prize Crossword 30,032 by Fed (13 June 2026)
  • Private Eye (Cyclops / 832) Restrain Nominee
  • Listener 4922 Elap Relationship
  • Financial Times 18,404 by SOLOMON
  • Guardian Cryptic 30037 Yank
  • Independent 12386 / Phi
  • Independent 12,385 by Bluejacket
  • Financial Times 18,403 by STEERPIKE
  • Guardian Cryptic crossword No 30,036 by Paul
  • Enigmatic Variations No. 1750 – Protegees by Vismut
  • Financial Times 18,402 by IO
  • Guardian 30,035 / Tramp
  • Independent 12384 / Eccles
  • YORK SLOGGERS & BETTERS 2026
  • Inquisitor 1963: Viewfinder by Luxor
  • Guardian Cryptic crossword No 30,034 by Vlad
  • Independent 12,383 / Deri
  • Financial Times 18,401 by PETO
  • Spectator 2754: Circles by Fieldfare
  • MyCrossword Featured crossword No 13 by Prak
  • Guardian 30,033: Philistine
  • Independent 12,382 by Longitude
  • Financial Times 18,400 by BOBCAT

Categories

Site Search

Calendar

June 2026
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  
« May    

Archives

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
© 2026 Fifteensquared • Built with GeneratePress