@unchcrosswords.com Do I win the Most Exotic Solving Location award for Issue 1? (I think we should make this a thing. Bring on issue 2…)

This wonderful 1st edition crossword magazine arrived yesterday from across the pond! Many thanks to @unchcrosswords.com (& @wyrd.systems , @liari.bsky.social , @guineverecryptic.bsky.social , @henriwords.com , @cranberryfez.bsky.social , @archelina.bsky.social . . .)

Is there a crossword person in your life? Would you like to get them a unique gift? PERHAPS FOR CHRISTMAS? Well maybe a bespoke quiz or cryptic crossword would fit the bill, on any theme, of any size, by the author of [counts on fingers] more than 900 published crosswords, i.e. Me. Give me a shout!

@hipattack.bsky.social Sorry we missed you for Issue 1, we‘ll be announcing pre-sales for number two soon, I promise.

My tenuous connection to this post is that I recently set a crossword based around an old tweet of Moose’s and sent him a copy of the magazine it’s in, and I like to think that this might have subconsciously inspired this 😁 /cc @unchcrosswords.com

The first rule of Crossword Club: tank told it's messed up to keep mum about (4,4) Crossword Club.

Just done @henriwords.com puzzle in Unch, and it's wonderful. I don't do a lot of these types of puzzles where some entry is central and a lot of clues reference it. Times never publishes those and I rarely venture into Guardian (often too non-Ximenean). Is there a name for them? Semi-thematics?

Anyways, I don't really know where I'm going with this (and I haven't even touched on AmuseLabs's sample grid being a "not a crossword"), but there's so many good human-created crosswords in the world, and I'm just sad to see otherwise useful software adding a completely unnecessary "AI" component.

Anyone who has ever made a crossword -- the professional kind in newspapers, puzzle blogs, crossword tournaments -- will tell you there's actual joy in building and wrestling with the near-infinite possibilities of a grid and writing pitch-perfect clues yourself. You can't do this with a chatbot!

I wrote a blog post for @mycrossword.co.uk about how setters can identify and calibrate how difficult (or otherwise) their own puzzles are: www.mycrossword.co.uk/blog/the-dif... If you’re a setter, an aspiring setter or just curious as to how these things work - give it 4 minutes of your time! 😊

Maybe 2026 will finally be the year I figure out cryptic crosswords

❤️❤️❤️

I have been an avid crossword-puzzler for as long as I can remember, including cryptics and currently learning about metas, and I still learned stuff from the mini series. Very worth a play, you can easily get the seven-day free trial and run through all the minis in a few hours

“Day and month we remember the Spanish incident beginning to happen (8)” Unch, vol 1, p.4

I had an absolute blast talking all things crossword and trivia with @thecrosstalkpod.bsky.social!! Check out the podcast episode here!

What's a good source for cryptic crosswords with fair yet well-constructed clues? My partner and I enjoy solving them together but we only have a few left from the AVCX archives and they strike me as the type of puzzle that you really want to make sure is properly vetted before attempting a solve.

New blog post ✍️ 🧩 www.alyscummings.com/post/cryptic...

The Seasonal Reposting Competition is coming! Return here on Friday for a chance to win a signed copy of one of my books ... For you or the #crossword addict in your life: 50 @theguardian.com #puzzles and the stories behind them: boatmancryptics.co.uk/crossword-bo...

My second #YouTube recommendation is the weekly solve of the Times #CrypticCrossword by Simon Anthony on #CrackingTheCryptic. He never assumes knowledge in the viewer and explains how the clues work. His enthusiasm for cryptics is infectious. I never miss one of these. youtube.com/watch?v=TaNE...

Unch finally arrived in Canada! Recent strikes by Canada Post delayed delivery – I appreciated the hand-written note (from Matt, not Canada Post!) Thanks, @unchcrosswords.com, and congrats on Issue 1 selling out! #cryptic #crossword #magazine

Are you a massive fan of The Celebrity Traitors looking for your next fix of nail-biting tension and diabolical deception? Well you won't find it in this video solve of one of my Daily Telegraph cryptic crosswords, so I probably shouldn't have mentioned it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHkb...

Late night in the US, two Unch puzzles (by @amoebacrosswords.bsky.social & @archelina.bsky.social) were streamed here: www.twitch.tv/videos/26117... I look forward to watching the latter after, or perhaps when, I do the Angel puzzle. Thanks to all.

@unchcrosswords.com on the bus feat. @liari.bsky.social (going nowhere fast but I did get a few in before I got to work...)

This Mastodon account looks fun: "An experimental bot which posts a cryptic crossword clue, followed by three replies. Replies have content warnings and are: 1. Half the letters of the answer 2. The answer but with no explanation 3. An explanation and sometimes comments" zirk.us/@LearnCrypti...

Thanks Aaron! We've sold out all our copies of Issue 1 now BUT if people like what they see on the stream, unchcrosswords.com is the place to go to sign up to our mailing list. We will be opening pre-sales for Issue 2 at some point and we'll email out as soon as we do 📧

I started doing crosswords on the metro yesterday. I took this photo near the gates, however, as the train was packed.

BUY ONE NOW! VERY GOOD!

Puzzle editing is all done for Issue 2. Thanks @archelina.bsky.social, @amoebacrosswords.bsky.social, @liari.bsky.social & @henriwords.com, & all the setters! Now onto the design phase... Sign up for the mailing list over at unchcrosswords.com so you'll be the first to know when we open pre-sales!

Remember, I'm stream-solving cryptics tonight from ~9 to 1 Eastern; a @sarathegood.bsky.social Browser, AVCXs from McCarroll, Cohen, and Weisz, plus some lively minis from koha, Kyle Dolan, and @polslaw.bsky.social. Maybe a Gnomon? More @unchcrosswords.com on Thursday. www.twitch.tv/thatcrypticguy

My tin hat, I'm wearing... I've written about why claims of 'Yodaspeak' are often wide of the mark: www.mycrossword.co.uk/blog/misunde...

ditto

So excited to be making my debut as Glyph in @theguardian.com Genius slot today. Cheers to @alanconnor.bsky.social for the spot, and thank you so much to the great folks that tested this puzzle. Hope you enjoy solving it as much as I enjoyed writing it! www.theguardian.com/crosswords/2...

no free paper on the bus this morning, none on the way home, daddy needs his cryptic crossword

Sharing a thing you love with lovely people who give you wine - what could be better? 😊👑🍷

Issue 1 of Unch is now officially SOLD OUT. Thank you all! Sign up for our email updates and we'll tell you when Issue 2 is available to pre-order. unchcrosswords.com

Last copies of Issue 1 posted this afternoon.

Using my favourite pencil in the hopes that it will bring me luck. 🙂 I'm a VERY slow solver, so 'Unch' provides excellent value for money - it'll keep me scratching my head for months! (Looks great, by the way.)

Coming soon

The Browser Crossword Cryptic #245 - edited by Dan Feyer My swan song in the Browser (they are shutting down the crossword section soon). Working with Dan has been fun! Sample clue: 5d. Lots of men put off getting probed by colonoscope in the rear (7) thebrowser.com/crossword-ar...

The quick cryptic today is genuinely very quick. www.theguardian.com/crosswords/q...

Maybe I should put it out here now that this is an account on cryptics. I review The Listener puzzles every week: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis... New episodes released when solutions are published: Friday, 4pm, three weeks after the publication of the puzzle.

🏆 Clue contest No 35 🏆 Submit your best cryptic clue for HIBERNATE using the link below. www.mycrossword.co.uk/contests/35

My sister is redesigning the Enrichment program in her school district, and she just sent me this 😀

Such a great book.

The timing was great - the week that happened, @alanconnor.bsky.social wrote an amusingly opportunistic article for the Guardian that served as the gateway - the rest is history 😁 www.theguardian.com/crosswords/c...

Really enjoyed @illogicaljoker.bsky.social’s solve of my puzzle in @unchcrosswords.com last night! It’s wonderful as a setter to hear someone really appreciating surfaces you’ve worked hard on! You can watch it - and his solve of @liari.bsky.social’s puzzle too - here! #cryptic #crossword

Received and enjoyed. Thanks!

If you've already got a copy of Issue 1 of Unch, now is a good time to sign up for updates so you are ready to pre-order Issue 2. If you haven't got a copy of Issue 1 of Unch yet, now is a good time to buy one before we completely run out. Either way, the place to do that is: unchcrosswords.com

If you love cryptics, you’ve probably asked “why aren’t there more, and more fans of them?” The tl;dr is that people can only fall for them if they encounter them, and so first love scales with the publishers. There are precious few; AVCX is a good one. Consider adding their puzzles to your week.