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Hints and tips for solving cryptic crossword clues.
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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
Clues by Vlad and Grid by Calluna Enter the prize draw by 31 December. The background for this puzzle is a Graham Fox montage depicting various, possibly Greek, scenes viewed as holes in a wall. This puzzle by Vlad uses a conventional unnumbered 7x5x5 grid by Calluna in which eight letters have already been filled in highlighted… Read more Hints & Tips December 2024
Clues and Grid by Soup Enter the prize draw by 30 November. The background for this puzzle is a Graham Fox photograph depicting many large spools of thread. This puzzle by Soup uses an unconventional 7x5x5 grid in which the numbers are placed in shaded squares. Every clue gives rise to an eight-letter solution. These should be… Read more Hints & Tips November 2024
Clues by Enigmatist and Grid by Bozzy Enter the prize draw by 31 October. The background for this puzzle is a Graham Fox photograph depicting many large barrels. This puzzle by Enigmatist uses a conventional 7x5x6 grid by Bozzy and commemorates an event whose name appears unclued in the grid (Day 15). Both clues and solutions include… Read more Hints & Tips October 2024
Clues by Paul and Grid by etc Enter the prize draw by 30 September. The background for this puzzle is a Graham Fox photograph depicting a starry night sky. Insistent rhythms on the strings herald the arrival of ominous brass… This puzzle by Paul uses a seven dials grid by etc and celebrates the 150th anniversary of… Read more Hints & Tips September 2024
Clues and Grid by Sirius Enter the prize draw by 31 August. The background for this puzzle is a Graham Fox photograph depicting red and blue umbrellas. This puzzle by Sirius uses an eight dials torus grid with some adjustments and notes three anniversaries of 125, 60 and 24.5 years. Not 2 and 10, though they do… Read more Hints & Tips August 2024
Clues by Curmudgeon and Grid by Chalicea Enter the prize draw by 31 July. To the stirring strains of electronic music we see white-clad figures running along the beach at Broadstairs St. Andrews… The background for this puzzle is a Graham Fox photograph of a sunset (or sunrise) over a beach with figures running and walking in… Read more Hints & Tips July 2024
Clues and Grid by Shark Enter the prize draw by 30 June. The background for this puzzle is a photograph of a chrysalis (of a monarch butterfly?) by icewerks. A whooshing sound gradually increases heralding the arrival of a 3D puzzle grid… This puzzle by Shark uses a conventional 7x5x7 grid and concerns a term first coined… Read more Hints & Tips June 2024
Clues and Grid by Komorník Enter the prize draw by 31 May. The background for this puzzle is a Graham Fox photograph showing birds perching on telephone wires. In his notes, Graham singled this out as his favourite photograph of this year’s calendar, with the arrangement of the birds on the five wires suggesting notation appropriate to… Read more Hints & Tips May 2024