Advance warning: in the @theguardian.com #crossword on Wednesday 5 November - no fireworks, just another chapter in our domestic autobiography ...

The PNG Courier on swans and sensibility …

Tom Johnson (aka Doc, Gozo, Maskarade) has published a book, which "tells of my career as a crossword compiler from my schooldays right through to commitments nowadays". Details of how to buy posted here: www.fifteensquared.net/2025/09/21/a...

Last chance to grab a place on my November masterclass! The attendee list closes in one week - act now!

Just a couple of places left on my next online masterclass ... Release your inner fiendishness over two afternoons on Saturday 1 and 8 November and perhaps you can be like @guineverecryptic.bsky.social who did this one year ago and today sets for @thetimes.com: boatmancryptics.co.uk/crossword-ma...

Congratulations to Guinevere, who becomes the tenth of my masterclass students to find a well-earned place in The Times today ...

Unch! Happening!

If you’re in Wells, like afternoon tea and don’t know how cryptic crosswords work, this could be your chance to find out …

The PNG Courier’s enthusiasm for the quality of political discourse in the UK is flagging …

The PNG Courier on ships, shootings and surgical strikes …

The Unch bunch launch …

Back to Bridgend, where the clocks stopped in 1979 and in our “country house luxury hotel” (fact fans - we are staying at the location of one of the key scenes in the Gavin & Stacey finale) no expense has been lavished to recreate the authentic experience of a school dormitory …

Something new is brewing in crosswordland …

If you’ve looked at cryptic crosswords and wondered what on earth they all mean, and if you might be somewhere near Norwich in September, this from one of my masterclass graduates should be of interest to you …

We are about to see Derren Brown’s latest show, and our row is entirely empty. What does this portend?

Congratulations to Josh, who is my 28th masterclass graduate to take a well-earned place in @the-independent.com ...

The PNG Courier proves itself equally adept at horror as at humour. Slaughter was always just one letter away from laughter …

If you're in Sussex on 19 Sept, come and see the wonderful Full Circle Quartet in the intimate setting of the Old Meeting House, Ditchling, with Josephine Davies (Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year 2019), BAFTA-winning pianist-composer Joss Peach, legendary bassist Terry Pack and drummer Angus Bishop

For those of us who have a professional interest in analysing cryptic crossword clues, this is a proposal to give a name to a concept that we’re all familiar with. Good idea?

Mrs B is currently living with a broken ankle, and I am now keen to reintroduce the Middle English spelling of "ancle", as this would allow me to clue ANCLE as "clean break" and CLEAN as "broken ancle".

With Soup in The Guardian, Bluth in The Indy and Weatherman in the Telegraph Toughie, it's a good day for my masterclass graduates and a good excuse to remind you that you can join my next online class for aspiring setters and keen solvers on 1 & 8 November: boatmancryptics.co.uk/crossword-ma...

ITMA. www.thetimes.com/puzzles/mind...

It’s an English 1-2-3, with Goodliffe taking first place after an exciting final round!

The good clues keep coming …

Some very nice clues here, as well …

They’re answering clues in turn - some remarkably quickly - and passing to the next contestant if they’re stuck. Surprisingly, this really works as a spectator sport …

Mark Goodliffe off to a strong start …

Happening at the World Crossword Championship right now …

Looking forward to seeing how this plays out … Can the world’s finest solvers succeed against our own Mark Goodliffe?

The best summary so far, by @mattgreencomedy.com and @mattgreencomedy.com. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQVf...

French antiques fraudster has amount to pay, along with accomplice, over item in auction (4,6)

Two buddies shared love man to man, As much as two straight fellows can, But Musk's in a K-Hole And Trump is an a-hole So now the shit's hitting the fan.

In the @theguardian.com #crossword tomorrow, with an architect of small boxes - one may be found in the north end of settlement (5)

Looking forward to meeting @somsram.bsky.social properly for the first time on the 29th next month …

Two books for your holiday reading: solve the puzzles, then read the stories behind them. Each book contains 50 #crosswords from @theguardian.com, with bonus extras. Discover the ideas behind them, the coincidences and the quantum mechanics. All booksellers or: boatmancryptics.co.uk/crossword-bo...

A good roundup here of some of the most contentious issues in setting cryptic crosswords - you should read this if you're thinking of submitting your work for public scrutiny for the first time ... Of course, you should come to one of my masterclasses too, but it won't hurt you to read this first!

Oh, this is very good. I look forward to (a) tipsy linguists knowingly referring to being “stockhammered” and (b) @alanconnor.bsky.social’s next opus “546 Words for Drunk” …

The PNG Courier continues its courageous coverage of the thick and the fast …

I suppose it’s a measure of Bluesky’s increasing scope that it now takes me five days to notice something as good as this: the PNG Courier showing where there’s Rome for improvement …

Trump is cracking down on the freedom to think and speak in the USA. His attacks on the film industry and universities are a clear indication of that. How long will it be before the same thing happens in the UK? www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/05...

For anyone inclined towards blanket antipathy against migrants (on either side of The Atlantic) but unsure as to where it leads: “Differences in the process of administration make all the difference between a reign of terror and one of law” …

FAO aspiring and emerging #crossword compilers! There's one fully funded place available on November's online Masterclass led by @boatmancryptics.co.uk. Applications particularly welcome from groups currently underrepresented in crosswords... boatmancryptics.co.uk/crossword-ma...

Ooh, look what Richard & Judy have been reading! It’s good fun and a bit crosswordy, in case you hadn’t realised …

Advance warning: in the @theguardian.com #crossword on Friday 6 June, when we'll be getting beastly again ...

This deserves a second day of enjoyment - for you in particular if you know anyone who believes that AI is close to achieving what we’d recognise as *understanding* the things it so confidently pontificates about …

Congratulations to former masterclass student Dice, who takes a well-deserved place in the Quick Cryptic slot in @theguardian.com today ...

Look what just arrived, courtesy of the brilliant @johnfinnemore.bsky.social! Can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to getting into this …

Worth understanding: in Trump's mind, fair trade = equal trade, and any imbalance gets punished by tariffs. If you happen to make stuff that the USA needs: tariffs. If you're too poor to buy from the USA: tariffs. This has nothing to do with removing actual barriers to trade.

Thanks to the enthusiasm for her craft of @baindex.org and the much-vaunted work of @djbduncan.bsky.social, this is now heading for my bedside table, to be enjoyed as soon as I can get to the end of Moby Dick …

if you read one FT article this weekend make it this blistering piece by @edwardluce.bsky.social on Trump’s assault on democratic norms in America www.ft.com/content/3741...