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Hints and tips for solving cryptic crossword clues.
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Clues and Grid by Shark Enter the prize draw by 31 October. The background for this puzzle is a Bernard Spragg photo of a small wooden church surrounded by trees displaying autumn colours. This puzzle by Shark uses a 7x5x5 grid with a couple of additional cells providing 8-letter rows in the top and bottom layers. It… Read more Hints & Tips October 2025
Clues by Soup and Grid by Komorník Enter the prize draw by 30 September. The background for this puzzle is a Dennis Sylvester Hurd photo of a monkey eating an ice cream in a cornet wafer. This puzzle by Soup uses an innovative conical grid by Komorník consisting of seven progressively smaller dials, the last of which… Read more Hints & Tips September 2025
Clues by Vlad and Grid by Calluna Enter the prize draw by 31 August. The background for this puzzle is an Elijah Henderson photo of a zebra. This puzzle by Vlad uses a conventional 9x7x5 grid by Calluna commemorating those responsible for a movement in a period of British culture. Like Calluna, this movement has a strong… Read more Hints & Tips August 2025
Clues and Grid by Sirius Enter the prize draw by 31 July. The background for this puzzle is a Darkmoon_Art image of a walkway through a dense tropical forest. The rubric is presented as if written in chalk on a traditional school classroom display. This puzzle by Sirius uses an unconventional Eight Dials torus grid, marking the… Read more Hints & Tips July 2025
Clues by Paul and Grid by Absolution Enter the prize draw by 30 June. I seem to hear two repeated notes on low strings… The background for this puzzle is a Jean-Pierre Zill photograph of a great egret reflected in water. …gradually becoming more insistent… This puzzle by Paul uses a conventional 7x5x5 grid by Absolution, marking… Read more Hints & Tips June 2025
Clues by Raich and Grid by Rikki Enter the prize draw by 31 May. The background for this puzzle is a Mike Wilson photograph of a pool of water in a forest. This puzzle by Raich uses a conventional 7x5x6 grid by Rikki, which was part of the World Championship winning entry for 2023. It celebrates the… Read more Hints & Tips May 2025
Clues by Curmudgeon and Grid by Chalicea Enter the prize draw by 30 April. The background for this puzzle is a David Lohner photograph of a saxophone mouthpiece in front of another saxophone. This puzzle by Curmudgeon uses a conventional 7x5x7 grid by Chalicea and celebrates the 100th anniversary of the first appearance of a classic work.… Read more Hints & Tips April 2025
Clues by Boatman and Grid by Bozzy Enter the prize draw by 31 March. The background for this puzzle is a photograph of a hand holding a marble. This unconventional puzzle by Boatman uses a conventional 7x7x5 grid by Bozzy and commemorates a 550-year anniversary. The letters contained in the yellow cells can be rearranged to form… Read more Hints & Tips March 2025
Clues by Carpathian and Grid by Patch Enter the prize draw by 28 February. The background for this puzzle is a photograph of some beetroots. This puzzle by Carpathian uses a conventional 7x5x6 grid by Patch and commemorates the untimely death, 160 years ago, of a pioneer in a certain field, whose name is to be found… Read more Hints & Tips February 2025
Clues by Imogen and Grid by Calluna Enter the prize draw by 31 January. The background for this puzzle is a photograph of a pile of logs. I seem to see the dreaming spires and hear the sound of shorter and longer electrical tones… This puzzle by Imogen uses a conventional 7x5x5 grid by Calluna and marks… Read more Hints & Tips January 2025