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 [...]

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 [...]

This week’s DIY COW (link below) winner was GymBunnies with a clue which I genuinely believe may be the greatest ever written. Have a ponder over this one: . . . . . . (6)

These are words which crop up in cryptics with some regularity, but do they both mean the same thing? Or is there already an established difference between the two?

When you set up a blog like this you tacitly commit to finding new things to talk about with a reasonable level of frequency, and it’s not always easy. So I’m very grateful when someone asks me a question on a subject I haven’t been thinking about or which, indeed, may be entirely new.

The Azed Slip isn’t something I contribute to, although in the past there has been the occasional temptation. I also don’t have a problem with the strict Ximenean principles applied to submissions – but I do think that sometimes it goes too far.

Although I haven’t got an easy timescale indicator to hand, I’d guess that it’s the last four months which I’d describe as ‘not the best in crosswordland for me’.

Er – what’s the singular form of ‘bits & pieces’? Whatever. I noticed WordPress allows you to link to video so I thought I’d give it a try.