No Listener video as I messed up the sound again, but I did enjoy the Snakes&Ladders one, easy and elegant. Also, travelling now, so chances are the rest of 2025 Listeners will also not be covered. Normal service to be resumed soon.

In case you happen to understand Russian, it is not too late to catch the last 1.5 days of @polborta.bsky.social providing commentary for World Rapid&Blitz Championships on LevitovChess. I'm of the firm opinion that life in general and chess in particular is better with Peter's commentary.

Somewhat belatedly, the new Listener video is out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5-f... In which I spend half the time talking about something completely unrelated.

Consistency for the festive week so far.

New Listener Video is out! youtu.be/8_X44nOBYhs?...

Numerical Listener week, so no video, but if you have missed this one, have a look, it's really my dream come true: www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0qR...

Well, we can cross this from the list now! Many thanks to Simon and @polborta.bsky.social and you should all go and watch this right now (as I am about to): www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0qR... Christmas coming early and all that. Better than Day 5 of the Ashes test.

New Listener video is out! www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh2x... (in which I moan a bit)

New Listener video is out. A lovely puzzle by Horntail, one half of whom is Michael Bennett (Shoehorn)! www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJNf...

We interrupt our regular programme to bring you the timely reminder that the man currently batting for Australia used to play for Sandwich Town.

New Listener video is out. One of the more impressive uses of grid symmetry out there! youtu.be/qijbeetn0bc?...

Colin Thomas is a genius. In The Observer today.

The new Listener video is out, but there are sound problems for the first few minutes of it. I should have re-recorded it, but didn't have time :( www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyIT...

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?

New Listener video is out! Second puzzle of the year by Hawk (whose first one is still my favourite Listener of 2025). www.youtube.com/watch?v=znPZ...

Farage regularly perceived to possess face of one? (4) is a brilliant &lit!

Our local towns keep popping up in The Times cryptics. Now it is Ramsgate s turn: A-list celeb from Ramsgate, unusually (8)

Decided to make public some videos about my favourite puzzles from years back. Here's a mini-playlist on the best Listeners of 2021: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis... And here's one of my favourite Magpie puzzles of all time: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3oh... Some of my opinions shifted since then!

The new Listener video is out! One of the harder ones of this brilliant year. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wptT...

This Sandwich resident is happy with this clue in The Times: Old noble in northeastern Kent mainly (5) (we're not there, although until recently we were bundled with them together in the weird South T. constituency -- and then were gerrymandered into even more bizarre "Sandwich and Herne Bay" one)

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.

Got my copy of Unch. Great to see a bunch of new young setters, somewhat orthogonal to the Listener/Magpie bunch I'm most familiar with. Also, great surface making it such a pleasure to solve with the fountain pen!

Waking up at 5.30am and deciding one has to record the Times Cryptic. Very hard today. And by John Guiver! Around 25 mins in I transition from suffering to enjoying the suffering.

Ok, I guess this will be mainly an account about cryptics. But this is so wonderful from the BBC and not totally unrelated to linguistic ambiguity at the heart of the cryptics art.