/r/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
11,284 Subscribers
COTD: In book, observation about surgeon eating meals regularly (9)
16:15 UTC
COTD: Limited edition - ninety left and difficult to track down (7)
15:34 UTC
COTD: Layers of hard earth at both poles (4)
15:01 UTC
COTD: Florida university lacking some international flavour? (5)
14:51 UTC
COTD: Workman finally examines trimmed old boards. Rough edges might be on all sides of the fence? (10)
14:21 UTC
COTD: Tears off pages (6)
10:37 UTC
COTD: A boy in fear of one who has ideas for life? (9)
08:08 UTC
12 Days of Cryptmas. Clue 1: Partridge near ace (without pear tree) shredding garment (8)
06:23 UTC
COTD: For example, "hawk tuah" - nasty head forcing out a funny (4)
05:49 UTC
POTD: Five Must Get Four?
"Five Must Get Four?"
Please solve this variety cryptic crossword and then answer a few meta questions.
You can submit solutions (and feedback/banter!) for around ten days (for podium spots or just for fun).
You can submit more than once, but perhaps limit to three-ish.
Scoring:
- 1 point for each correct grid letter.
- 1 point each for questions 2-5.
Ties will be broken by submission time.
There's an optional part of question 5 that won't be scored, but interesting responses shall be featured in the results.
The crossword is available here:
https://gussalufz.com/gussalufz/2024/gussalufz-5-must-get-4.html
04:08 UTC
COTD: Wanderer to listen, observe after swindle (5)
PS. I'm very new to cryptic crosswords and this is the first clue I'm making. Please feel free to leave suggestions on how to improve this clue and rate! :))
02:16 UTC
META: TOTW and AOTW winning clue types
I looked through the last year's worth of winning entries for both TOTW and AOTW, and found the following:
| Clue Type | Number of TOTW Winners | Number of AOTW Winners |
|---|---|---|
| Charade | 15 | 27 |
| Anagram | 15 | 7 |
| Partial Anagram* | 7 | 6 |
| Double Def | 5 | 3 |
| Hidden | 4 | 4 |
| Cryptic Def | 2 | 2 |
| Homophone | 1 | 3 |
| Spoonerism | 2 | 0 |
| Acrostic | 1 | 0 |
'* Partial anagrams have some letters added to or subtracted from the main fodder.
| Clue Type | TOTW | AOTW |
|---|---|---|
| &lit | 2 | 2 |
| semi &lit | 4 | 1 |
I may have made a couple of errors, and certainly some subjective calls on how to categorise clues.
I find it interesting that TOTW setters pick far more anagrams than would be accepted in a normal crossword! Of the 8 winning TOTW clues in September and October only one was not an anagram or partial anagram.
In contrast it seems harder to construct a winning AOTW clue (which has a much narrower choice of solution words) using only a single technique.
Edit: apologies if the tables don't render nicely!
21:20 UTC
COTD: Uncertain MOT noise (5,8)
21:11 UTC
COTD: What does one stand for in FBI interrogation? (13)
20:50 UTC
COTD: Cavalier fined after King is wounded (6)
19:48 UTC
COTD: Cash allowance for actors' lobby (5,4)
19:04 UTC
COTD: Cash allowance for actors' lobby (5,4)
19:04 UTC
COTD: Some lied about tunes (8)
18:15 UTC
COTD: A lot of milk at first, cream or cheese in return
17:54 UTC
COTD: User interfered with device (4)
16:58 UTC
COTD: Three witches maybe in crew: accepting backup. Outsiders with no end of hexes caught by crew, finally. Told King about conclusion to disturbance (6, 6, 3, 5)
16:50 UTC
COTD: Where each sunset truly begins! (4)
13:07 UTC
COTD: NATO's a gamble for American conglomerate (8)
12:58 UTC
COTD: Adult leaves disintegrating America for this region in Europe (6)
Feedback appreciated.
10:52 UTC
Solved: Guardian Quick Cryptic Crossword No 35 by Maskarade
Slightly spicier start to the week than I expected, some tricky wordplay and a couple of words that were new to me.
- Link to live solve: https://youtu.be/RpDHWW_4BPs
- Link to crossword: https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/quick-cryptic/35
- Link to Fifteen Squared: https://www.fifteensquared.net/2024/11/30/quick-cryptic-35-by-maskarade/
Thanks Maskarade. Thanks Shanne of Fifteen Squared.
07:24 UTC
POTD: midi crossword - https://crosshare.org/crosswords/TsZe2jy0hMWHLy7rlWMH/fins-cryptic
Should be relatively easy for the geniuses on this page. Took me quite a while as I’m new to crossword writing. Any feedback on the clues and tips of how to construct the grids (I want to eventually do bigger ones) would be appreciated
04:29 UTC
COTD: Smashing a lean grandma can be costly (2,3,3,1,3)
02:58 UTC
COTD: College newspaper society rocks! (5)
01:21 UTC
Explain this answer please
Mention of wealthy people making projections(5)
!knobs!< is the answer, >!I’ve seen that knobs can mean projections,!< but I don’t get the rest. Cheers
00:11 UTC
COTD: Storm over an Italian city (6)
20:55 UTC