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.

Everyman 3,825

by

A bit of a mixed bag this week: mostly straightforward, some excellent clues, but a few slightly iffy ones. I enjoyed most of this, but a few clues look as though Everyman didn’t … Read more >>

Everyman 3,821

by

Everyman starts the New Year with . . . well, more of the same; bending the rules a bit but generally fun. There are a couple of names that might not be familiar … Read more >>

Guardian Cryptic 28,025 by Nutmeg

by

A tricky but enjoyable challenge today. As always, Nutmeg provides lovely surfaces, some of them also very neatly concise: 15a, 19a and 24d for example. She also enjoys definitions ranging from the slightly … Read more >>

Everyman 3,817

by

A fairly straightforward Everyman this week. As we’ve come to expect, there are lots of anagrams and anagram indicators, a few slightly contrived definitions, and punctuation that’s put there to hinder rather than … Read more >>

Everyman 3,813

by

Everyman as we’ve come to expect: occasionally a bit untidy but generally fun. As we’ve often seen recently, there are some rather loose definitions and slightly vague indicators in wordplay. However, there are … Read more >>