{"id":6863,"date":"2026-05-31T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/?p=6863"},"modified":"2026-06-14T10:53:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T09:53:00","slug":"digest-may-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/31\/digest-may-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Digest &#8211; May 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Doctor&#8217;s Notes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This month marks one year since Doctors Clue and Cluelittle first met at the <a href=\"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/06\/azed-2750-lunch\/\">Azed 2,750 celebrations in Oxford<\/a>, when Doctor Cluelittle first heard of the Clue Clinic over tea and scones with cream and jam (or was it jam and cream?) generously laid on by the Crowther family.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Doctor Cluelittle, this site soon became an indispensable aid and she asked if she could join the practice. Having just finished a course in crossword anatomy, she brought with her a pair of fresh eyes, a listening ear, and a willingness to lend a hand, which complemented Doctor Clue\u2019s diagnostic insights, surgical precision, and years of medical experience. With the clinic\u2019s team now 100% larger, momentum for a refurbishment project began to build &#8211; more on that below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"cc-block-spacing wp-block-paragraph\">This month also brought another milestone, as the Clue Clinic received its 3,000th comment (from John Atkinson, a regular on the site since 2021). It\u2019s always a joy to see your comments, and this milestone provides a good excuse to thank you all for your engagement and support. The Doctors look forward to seeing more discussions in the Forum (coming soon).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Clinical Observations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">May was a bumper month with five barred puzzles from the <em>Observer<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/03\/notes-for-azed-2779\/\">Azed 2,779<\/a>: Plain, 2.5\/5 difficulty. A clue mentioning red underwear wasn\u2019t quite backed up by the Big Red Book.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/10\/notes-for-gemelo-33\/\">Gemelo 33<\/a>: Plain, 2.6\/5. Hobnobs, Hearts and Citizen Kane &#8211; this puzzle had something for everyone and received a couple of LOLs from satisfied solvers, though Dr Clue was not content with \u201ccontent\u201d as a contents indicator.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/17\/notes-for-gemelo-34\/\">Gemelo 34<\/a>: Plain, 3\/5. This puzzle attracted a fair few comments, including discussions of singular\/plural anagram indicators and how hyphenated clues should be enumerated. If you have a view on the latter point, take a look at the poll below.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/24\/notes-for-gemelo-35\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/24\/notes-for-gemelo-35\/\">Gemelo 35<\/a>: Special \u2018Bonus Shares\u2019, 4.4\/5. Cruciverbal Marmite, with one commenter calling this \u201cthe best Gemelo yet\u201d while others found it too gimmicky.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/31\/notes-for-gemelo-36\/\">Gemelo 36<\/a>: Plain. If you&#8217;ve completed the puzzle, don&#8217;t forget to give it a difficulty rating so we know how you got on.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Clinic Refurbishment Project<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">May saw the first swathe of enhancements implemented, as part of our ongoing Clinic Refurbishment Project. These included a new layout for the home page, an expanded <a href=\"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/about-this-site\/\">About This Site page<\/a> to aid orientation, and more intuitive options for you to comment and interact with the clinicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Doctors have further enhancements up their sleeves (rolled up for reasons of hygiene, of course), including making the Clinical Data lists more user-friendly, and re-launching the discussion forum. Updates will be shared on the <a href=\"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/refurbishment-project-status\/\">Refurbishment Project Status<\/a> page; this is also where you can comment on changes to the site &#8211; prior or planned. Please do share your reactions, questions or suggestions &#8211; we want to make the site as useful and intuitive as possible, so your feedback is most welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Ready, Get Setting, Go!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A call to action for any would-be setters among you. Big Dave\u2019s Crossword Site has an area called <a href=\"https:\/\/crypticcrosswords.net\/puzzles\/rookie-corner\/\">Rookie Corner<\/a> which supports up-and-coming setters; several Rookies have gone on to create puzzles for national newspapers and the Clinic\u2019s own Dr Cluelittle is a recent \u2018graduate\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each puzzle submitted is published, reviewed and commented on by solvers, giving new setters a fantastic opportunity to receive feedback and hone their skills. The Rookie Corner queue is currently empty, so for those of you dreaming of being the next Azed or Gemelo, we strongly encourage you to submit. Email bdSubmissions@outlook.com to express interest and find out more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"Poll\" class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Poll of the Month<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There was some recent discussion on the blog for Gemelo 34 about the enumerations used in most barred puzzles (including Azed and Gemelo) for answers shown by Chambers as either being hyphenated or comprising multiple words. Currently the answer DOUBLE BASS would be enumerated as (6,4) in a blocked puzzle, but (10, 2 words) in a barred puzzle; ONE-SIDED would be shown as (3-5) in a blocked puzzle but (8) in a barred puzzle. Over to you&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n<div\nstyle=\"color:#222222;background-color:#ffffff;border-color:#fafafa;border-style:solid;border-width:3px;padding-top:30px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:30px;padding-left:30px;--pollify-submit-button-bg-color: #3858e9;--pollify-submit-button-text-color: #ffffff;--pollify-submit-button-hover-text-color: #ffffff;--pollify-submit-button-hover-bg-color: #000000;--pollify-closing-banner-bg-color: #f8dad8;--pollify-closing-banner-text-color: #d82e20\" class=\"cc-pollify wp-block-pollify-poll has-text-color has-background has-border-color\">\n\t<div class='pollify-poll-form'>\n\t\t<h4 class=\"poll-title rich-text\">How should multi-word and hyphenated answers be enumerated in barred puzzles?<\/h4>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<form action=\"post\" class=\"poll-form\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-anonymous-voting=\"1\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-allow-duplicate-prevention=\"1\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-voting-method=\"cookie\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-require-login=\"0\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"poll-options-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"option\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"option-selector\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<!-- If optionType is radio then input radio otherwise checkbox -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"radio\" name=\"poll-option\" class=\"radio\" id=\"option-KmLOERH-qNBGH4idlEMHu\" value=\"KmLOERH-qNBGH4idlEMHu\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<label class=\"option-label\" for=\"option-KmLOERH-qNBGH4idlEMHu\">\n\t\t\t\t\tAs currently, DOUBLE BASS shown as (10, 2 words) and ONE-SIDED as (8)\t\t\t\t<\/label>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"option\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"option-selector\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<!-- If optionType is radio then input radio otherwise checkbox -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"radio\" name=\"poll-option\" class=\"radio\" id=\"option-VfXfwJa7XwrwKCqV15JJ4\" value=\"VfXfwJa7XwrwKCqV15JJ4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<label class=\"option-label\" for=\"option-VfXfwJa7XwrwKCqV15JJ4\">\n\t\t\t\t\tAs in blocked puzzles, DOUBLE BASS shown as (6,4) and ONE-SIDED as (3-5)\t\t\t\t<\/label>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"option\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"option-selector\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<!-- If optionType is radio then input radio otherwise checkbox -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"radio\" name=\"poll-option\" class=\"radio\" id=\"option-NwytLG-XCS0ZnWDHAAQ-i\" value=\"NwytLG-XCS0ZnWDHAAQ-i\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<label class=\"option-label\" for=\"option-NwytLG-XCS0ZnWDHAAQ-i\">\n\t\t\t\t\tA hybrid, DOUBLE BASS shown as (10, 2 words) and ONE-SIDED as (8, hyphen)\t\t\t\t<\/label>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-button poll-block-button align-left\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"submit-button-wrapper has-custom-width wp-block-button-width-25\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"poll-client-id\" value=\"4c034f56-11ed-4d31-b19c-83cacce9230e\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" class=\"wp-block-button__link submit-button\" value=\"Vote\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/form>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Doctor&#8217;s Notes This month marks one year since Doctors Clue and Cluelittle first met at the Azed 2,750 celebrations in Oxford, when Doctor Cluelittle first heard of the Clue Clinic over tea and scones&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-digest"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6863"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6973,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863\/revisions\/6973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}