Guardian Quiptic

A sound Quiptic from Hectence, with one or two trickier clues that less experienced solvers might have needed some crossers for. But isn’t that how most crosswords work – get a foothold and … Read more >>

A pleasant surprise to see Philistine as the setter when I opened the puzzle this morning. Well-established, and well-liked, as a compiler of Guardian cryptics, but I don’t recall seeing him in the … Read more >>

Thank you to Pan. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 4. Cop guarding god leaving hospital in Texas city (6) DALLAS : DS(abbrev. for “detective sergeant”/a policeman/cop) containing(guarding) “Allah”(the name of God/the … Read more >>

Belated thanks to Eileen for coming off the bench to do my last Quiptic blog. Pleased to see a Hectence puzzle on my watch this morning – always a pleasure to solve and … Read more >>

I haven’t blogged a Quiptic before – I’m a stand-in today – and I was particularly pleased to see Matilda’s name, because I always enjoy her puzzles, Quiptic or Cryptic. As required for … Read more >>

Thank you to Beale. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1. Lean the wrong way, drop a catch (7) PITFALL : Reversal of(… the wrong way) TIP(to lean/to put into a sloping … Read more >>

Anto has the Quiptic for us this morning. A very generous, solver-friendly, grid made up for some tricky clueing, I thought. You? Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition cad clue as definition … Read more >>

A delightful Quiptic from Hectence, with nothing to frighten the horses, as it should be. I have given full explanations for those in the ‘beginner’ category, but please ask if there is something … Read more >>

Thank you to Carpathian. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1. Difficult prisoner loudly taking drugs (9) CONFUSING : CON(short for “convict”/prisoner) + F(abbrev. for “forte”, musical instruction to play loudly) + … Read more >>

This offering from Anto did not appear on the Grauniad website till mid morning, so I am afraid because of work commitments I have not been able to write and post a blog … Read more >>

Thanks to Pan for our entertainment today. The Quiptic’s brief is “for beginners and those in a hurry”. This one perhaps stretches the definition a little, with a few less familiar words and … Read more >>

Matilda has produced a pleasing Quiptic this morning, which I think meets the brief – ‘for beginners, and those in a hurry’ – pretty well. For those in the former category, additional explanation … Read more >>