There are two Anax puzzles in the Independent this month, both on a Saturday, the first one tomorrow. It isn’t themed, but… An odd coincidence – yesterday’s crossword by Buzzer in The Hindu was mightily impressive; all clues started with the letter B, reminding me of the ‘B-headed by Anax’ puzzle that appeared on Alberich’s [...]

One of the hardest disciplines to master as a cryptic crossword setter isn’t the technicality of clue-writing rules. It’s the intense concentration – ideally unbroken – needed to see a puzzle through from concept to conclusion. This is especially true if you’re trying to do it full-time and it’s your sole source of income. Absolute [...]

Indeed – Anax starts the short working week in the Independent tomorrow, but after Anarche’s stunning thematic today I’m almost embarrassed to mention it.

There are times when the urge to jump to the defence of a colleague is very strong, but it can be a hazardous ploy. You always run the risk of hearing “Well, you would, wouldn’t you?” as well as possibly alienating solvers/bloggers with whom you’ve always had a good relationship. For that reason I tend [...]

Today’s (Tuesday) Independent puzzle is an Anax effort. A number of clues suggest a theme, but you don’t really need any knowledge of it. Just gone midnight as I type this and the puzzle isn’t showing yet, but it should be there shortly: http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/puzzles/crosswords/cryptic/

An excellent day out in Todmorden with crossword buddies old and new, and a special treat for me to be able to meet up with fellow Telegraph setter Myops for the first time – great to know that there are still some setters who shun the ‘easy way out’ of crossword software and do everything [...]

This weekend’s Sloggers & Betters at Bramsche Bar in Todmorden, organised by Tilsit, looks like fun and I’m very much looking forward to meeting solvers/setters who can’t attend the more south-centric gatherings.

Just a quick call-in to say tomorrow’s Telegraph Toughie is an Elkamere effort. Sorry to be so brief – getting late and still got work to do.

My daughter Xana is amazing. She’ll be 13 in about two months but the head on her shoulders is at least twice that, and she is developing truly awesome talent. The pencil drawing below (of her beloved boy band One Direction) took no less than 10 weeks of patience and is quite incredible: The slight [...]

Could be interesting, this. As a setter, when you look over a completed puzzle there are usually a modest number of clues where you say to yourself “That worked well” and, equally, some which elicit a degree of regret because – try as you might – you couldn’t phrase it exactly as you wanted and [...]