Welcome to The Clue Clinic – where people interested in solving or setting cryptic crosswords come to learn, sharpen their skills, and get expert guidance from experienced setters.
If this is your first visit, we would recommend visiting the About This Site page to get some ideas about the areas of the site which may be of particular interest to you and the ways in which you can interact with Clinic staff and other readers.
What’s New
The PDF of the latest Azed puzzle is available at this link: Azed 2,782 The July Digest is now live, providing a short round-up of news and views from the Clinic. The PDF of the latest Gemelo puzzle is available at this link: Gemelo 42
Latest Posts
Latest Comments
Thanks, Stu. I knew that similar things existed ‘unnamed’ in the mainframe/minicomputer world, but my ‘research’ into the origin of…
Hey Dr, I was looking through your glossary page and saw the comment that Easter Eggs were first coded into…
Tim: I agree with you.
Yes, Ch has ‘????? beacon’, but as something that acts as a beacon for ‘?????’, not the thing itself. In…
I suggest that the setter had a feminine noun in mind (to match ‘Circe’). The entry is a male plural…
I tend to agree with all of the above (certainly, 17 d is nonsense). That being said, Ch does have…
Sadly, those were just two among many eyebrow-raisers – each time I look at the clues I see another one…
I may be taking an over-technical view but I wouldn’t describe 8D as a beacon – it is not intended…
Certainly raised an eyebrow here – HM is a formal title for the reigning monarch.
Does no-one take exception to a former monarch still being referred to as “HM”? I do! Google suggests “Using bare…