Guardian Genius

The preamble states that: Each clue contains a one word surplus to requirements. The initial letters of these words, in clue order spell out a group, followed by the title of one of … Read more >>

The preamble for Genius 142, when you can work your way through the hotch-potch of ‘temporary’ (?) workarounds the Grauniad have built around this ‘non-standard’ puzzle which has been there for 10-plus years, … Read more >>

The preamble told us that in 11 clues the wordplay produces a letter surplus to the solution. In order, these 11 letters provide a cryptic definition for 10 other solutions, represented in their … Read more >>

The special instructions seemed vaguely familiar, and after a bit of searching I found that the idea of the definition applying to the answer of a different clue was used a couple of … Read more >>

A message from Joyce: Before you read the preamble, I would like to apologise for my error in scheduling the date for publication. What I forgot to change was the year. I would like … Read more >>

For Genius 136, Puck tells us that “Eight solutions include one or more thematic elements that are absent from their clues. Before submitting your completed entry you must make a single numerical adjustment in … Read more >>

The preamble told us that all solutions are thematic, wholly or in part.  All clues contain normal definitions but, with 18 of them, the wordplay ignores the thematic element.       I … Read more >>

A Genius puzzle by Enigmatist – words to strike fear in a blogger’s heart. Fortunately this turned out to be one of his slightly more merciful offerings, though in traditional style it started … Read more >>

I can usually finish a Genius puzzle in about an hour, 90 minutes at the outside, but this one took nearly a whole morning before the grid was filled, and I had to … Read more >>