/r/crosswords
A subreddit for cryptic (UK style) crosswords.
Check out our community compiled crosswords!
Use spoilers as necessary
Please don't guess at, answer, or discuss clues in plain text.
Use reddit's native spoiler format:
>!THE ANSWER!< (with no spaces before or after either !)
which will show up as:
THE ANSWER
Read the wikipedia article about cryptic crosswords if all of this is new to you.
For non-cryptic, American-style crosswords (e.g. NYT), check out /r/crossword
“Help” request self-posts are allowed, but remember spoiler rules still apply.
Prefix post titles with COTD:
Anyone may post clues for solving/evaluation by the community.
You can mark your clue as "solved" by using the flair link below the title of your clue.
Prefix post titles with AOTW:
This is a weekly competition (scheduled for Sundays) where the previous week's winner posts a word or phrase and picks the next winner a week later.
You are asked to use this grid as a source of AOTW answers.
Prefix post titles with TOTW:
This weekly competition (scheduled for Thursdays) is similar to the AOTW, but instead of having a rigid format you can submit any clue fitting the theme.
Prefix post titles with POTD:
Use this to submit complete puzzles. They may be presented as pictures and/or using our special markup (only works in legacy reddit). We also recommend posting an interactive version for solving convenience, if possible.
For the sake of beginners and curious visitors, please provide spoiler tagged annotation (explanations) for solved clues and puzzles. Click the 'Reveal all!" button in any of our community puzzles to see some examples.
For lots of other puzzle-related subreddits, check out the puzzle network
/r/crosswords
8,492 Subscribers
COTD: Generals support Gestapo (5)
18:18 UTC
COTD: Insane Periodical of leader names sunken actor having silver wedding anniversary commonality. (3,8)
18:13 UTC
COTD: "Smashed anglophone exam" is said only once (5,9)
16:13 UTC
COTD: Brought back a lone diamond (secretly) for a single lady (6)
07:36 UTC
COTD: Steer, cross, and pause at a matter of some debate, to wit the middle one herein (6,5)
05:20 UTC
COTD: Idiot dousing explosive with a lack of oxygen (6)
20:42 UTC
COTD: Teacher, faculty, and me (6)
18:22 UTC
TOTW: Musical genres
Thank you very much to /u/SatisfactoryLepton for choosing my clue and giving me the awesome responsibility of choosing the TOTW for the first time. I hope I don’t mess it up.
The theme is musical genres. It can be as broad as CLASSICAL or as specific as INDUSTRIAL BLACK METAL. Let’s play!
16:56 UTC
COTD: Show contempt for first pair of flowers in bloom (5)
16:24 UTC
Daily Cryptic Puzzle
Hi folks,
I created a small Wordle style daily cryptic crossword here: https://daily-cryptic-iief.vercel.app/ using a public dataset of ~10,000 clues I found online.
It generates one unique cryptic clue everyday for you to solve within 5 guesses. Each guess if validated to tell you correct letters, mispositioned letters and incorrect ones (Please read the rules to understand how the guess colors are to be interpreted). You can also share the scores with friends!
I'm fairly new to Web development and my interest in technology + Cryptic crosswords brought me to build this. Any and all feedback is welcome! Hope the community likes it. :)
13:40 UTC
New Yorker Cryptic Crosswords: Ended?
Hey all: a little freaked that there wasn't a New Yorker Cryptic Crossword that came out this Sunday. Have they stopped doing them?
Please don't comment about how I should try cryptic crosswords from other sites. I'm a beginner and these ones have been good for my skill level!
19:17 UTC
COTD: Might need a couple of examples of this (9,4)
11:43 UTC
COTD: Ready to cut ahead? (7)
10:11 UTC
"Guardian Puzzles app will close on 30 April"
08:59 UTC
COTD: Rebel, for one, wearing bomb, topless (8)
03:25 UTC
COTD: Misguided martyr gets in his first ever reps here (7,3)
22:19 UTC
COTD: Deluded skeptic naturally, while not your ally, is full of shit (6,4)
If you have any suggestions on how to improve the surface reading I'd be very grateful!
22:16 UTC
COTD: String theory object is an idiot, as we hear it'll lead to near catastrophe (1-5)
A clue with two routes to solve it, and a >!somewhat squiffy indicator!<
17:43 UTC
COTD: James T's Final Frontier: following beam, bound by Boltzmann constants (4)
!One of the indicators appears in a prominent online list of single letter indicators, but I've not found any evidence of it ever being used in a published clue. I'm not too happy with it as an indicator, but I've used it anyway because it fits the surface so well!<
17:09 UTC
COTD: Doctor pretends to be pair of curtains (6)
16:44 UTC
COTD: Wave with strength (5)
14:11 UTC
COTD: When Spoonerism's applied, order or chaos pretty much results (4, 2, 4)
Would like to think the surface provides a description of the trial-and-error process of coming up with a Spoonerism
13:21 UTC
COTD: What is written in the stars is to endlessly kiss me, with a hint of tongue (6)
10:46 UTC
COTD: Materiel is the outcome of bad material? (4)
04:02 UTC
COTD: Always pouring rain in London, see how Oakwood wettens earlier, reaching summer at first with seasonal weather (5,7)
22:20 UTC
COTD: Mostly regretful about bankruptcy (4)
13:44 UTC
COTD: Opportunity, once in the past, follows introduction of regulation (5)
13:42 UTC
COTD: Give approval, while hiding broken heart and lacking inspiration (10)
13:07 UTC
AOTW: E?U?E
A huge thank you to u/foureyedclyde for picking my clue last week.
This week, let's go with 16 down - this looks fun, with some interesting options.
Good luck! Let's get creative!
09:51 UTC
COTD: Explain only as long as unknown (7)
07:39 UTC