Quirister

I learned to do crosswords from my parents, who also introduced me to choral singing and classical languages (they met in a choir while studying Classics / History at university). Perhaps not the most obvious background for an Engineering degree, but the language and problem-solving skills turned out to be useful for working as a technical author in the software industry. Meanwhile all the fun stuff (sewing, cooking and various crafts as well as the singing) gradually took over more of my time . . . so eventually I decided that 30 years’ working life was enough. I now do a range of different volunteer tasks and need a good diary to keep track of it all. As they say: once you retire, you wonder how you ever found time to go to work.

Quiptic 1,089 by Anto

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Anto provides a slightly tricky Quiptic today. There are a couple of loose definitions, and some references that may be unfamiliar to non-Brits – I’ve tried to cover these in the notes. I’m … Read more >>

Everyman 3,857

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A fairly typical Everyman, with clues ranging from pretty easy to quite tricky. A good clue at 20a was spoiled by the omission of a couple of words in the online version, though … Read more >>

Guardian Prize 28,225 by Maskarade

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Maskarade’s traditional Bank Holiday weekend giant puzzle – but one of the less complicated versions. The preamble says: The wordplay of 29 clues lack a theme word to reach the required solution. These … Read more >>

Everyman 3,853

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Another fun weekend challenge in Everyman’s recent run of good form. Some have complained about Everyman’s rather loose definitions or vague indicators in the past, but I thought everything here was clear; a … Read more >>

Quiptic 1,080 by Matilda

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One of our regular Quiptic setters with another enjoyable (but occasionally tricky) puzzle. Most of the standard clue types are here: simple block constructions, insertions, anagrams, reversals, double definitions, and combinations of these. … Read more >>

Everyman 3,849

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Yet another puzzle in Everyman’s distinctive style. The standard Everyman features are all here: a related pair of long entries (when I got the solution to 11a, I had a pretty good idea … Read more >>

Everyman 3,845

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Everyman’s recent run of slightly harder puzzles continues – but it’s an enjoyable one. As usual some of the definitions involve a bit of lateral thinking, and the wordplay in 25a is not … Read more >>