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Hints and tips for solving cryptic crossword clues.
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Clues and Grid by Curmudgeon Enter the prize draw by 31 March. A faint sound gradually increases until it is clear it is a heart beat… The background for this puzzle is a Graham Fox photograph showing the head and tuning pegs of a guitar against an overcast background. An alarm clock goes off and various clocks… Read more Hints & Tips March 2023
Clues by Puck and Grid by XAM Enter the prize draw by 28 February. The background for this puzzle is a Graham Fox photograph of dawn rising or dusk falling over a coastal landscape. This puzzle by Puck uses a torus grid which won XAM the RPM trophy. The puzzle celebrates an 80th anniversary. Eleven thematic answers… Read more Hints & Tips February 2023
Clues by Vlad and Grid by Calluna The background for this puzzle is a Graham Fox photograph of a painting depicting some grapes and a glass of red wine. This puzzle by Vlad uses a conventional 7x5x5 grid by Calluna and the theme is the 50th anniversary of a first appearance. All clues are normal,… Read more Hints & Tips January 2023
Clues by Pickles and Grid by Gin The background for this puzzle is an Alan Tunnicliffe photograph of a fox in grass with buttercups. This puzzle by Pickles uses a conventional 7x5x5 grid by Gin and the theme is particularly appropriate for the publication in which it is printed. Letters in the three shaded squares… Read more Hints & Tips December 2022
Clues and Grid by Shark The background for this puzzle is a Graham Fox photograph of an underground vault of Middle Eastern appearance. This puzzle by Shark uses an innovative and appropriate grid of 4 square layers widening from 3×3 at the top to 9×9 at the bottom and marks 100 years since a famous… Read more Hints & Tips November 2022
Clues by Vlad and Grid by Aramis The background for this puzzle is a Graham Fox photograph of a sunset over a stretch of water. This puzzle has clues by Vlad and a conventional 7x5x5 grid by Aramis. The puzzle marks the 200th anniversary of a publication. Vlad’s clever clues and Aramis’ elegant grid gradually… Read more Hints & Tips October 2022
Clues by Imogen and Grid by Patch In a Patch in the ground lived an Imogen. Not a nasty, dirty, wet Patch, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down: it was an Imogen-Patch, and that means a grid… Read more Hints & Tips September 2022
Clues and Grid by Sirius The background to this puzzle is a Hubble space telescope photograph of a “celebrity star” on the edge of destruction. This spherical grid commemorates two anniversaries with a common theme (but slightly different words). Both anniversaries are of the demise of a “celebrity star”. The first was some 60 years… Read more Hints & Tips August 2022
Clues and Grid by Soup I apologise for the late arrival of these hints and tips. Normal service should be resumed next month. The background to this puzzle is a Graham Fox photograph of a tree stump. This very cleverly designed grid celebrates the 90th anniversary of a unique sporting achievement by a Yorkshireman. The… Read more Hints & Tips July 2022
Clues by Boatman and Grid by Jolt I met DELETED in the underground car park at the time he indicated in my copy of the newspaper. He handed me a dossier bearing a Graham Fox photograph of the Bingley Five Rise staircase locks on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. How could these be connected to… Read more Hints & Tips June 2022