#PuzzlerPride2025 is officially here! Head to https://pride.puz.fun to grab a free copy of our third annual puzzle showcase featuring more than 30 word, logic, and hunt-style puzzles from #LGBTQIA puzzle authors!

#PuzzlerPride #Sudoku #LogicPuzzles #WordPuzzles #Puzzles #FreePuzzles #CrypticCrossword

On #dictionaries #oed

As I am sure many of you know by now, I love #crypticcrossword -- and I have the relevant associated dictionaries for that: Chambers, Bradmans, etc.

But what I've been thinking about is the Oxford English Dictionary. It ocured to me that I don't own one. Hmm, and it turns out were I to own one, I'd probably use it a lot.

So I looked into this, and found the following:

If I wanted to go top of the line, there's this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-English-Dictionary-second-Volumes/dp/0198611862/ -- I'm not sure I could justify that much money! But if people are recommending it then... maybe!

There's also the second edition:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Compact-Oxford-English-Dictionary/dp/0198612583

If I wanted to "slum it", there's this option:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shorter-Oxford-English-Dictionary-Sixth/dp/0199206872 -- this looks interesting, and a but more compreshensive than your average smaller OED.

I guess at this point, I'd love to hear any recommendation people have.

Thanks to @lgsl for sanity-checking this in the first instance. :)

Happy #piday everyone!

This #crypticcrossword from Methuselah was excellent!

https://www.fifteensquared.net/2025/03/14/independent-by-methuselah-11990/

Enlarged aperture during embargo at sea? (6)

#CrypticCrossword clue

#crossword #crypticcrossword #guardian

Today's cryptic crossword #29632 is set by Philistine

This was the Clue Of The Day (COTD) for me:

"Church ban for telegram? (15)"

The definition is "Church Ban".

A telegram is an old form (by today's standards) of communication. Indeed, to get banned by the Church is:

EXCOMMUNICATION

... of which, a Telegram is such an example.

Brilliant. It made me smile. :)

#crossword #crypticcrossword #guardian

For some time, I've mainted this:

https://xteddy.org/gcc-analysis.html

It updates daily, quite happily.

But it uses mongodb. which when compared to something like #duckdb blows.

So I'm going to migrate the backend, and rewrite it. From Perl -> golang (most likely).

The frontend uses c3js for it's charting library. If anyone has any suggestions for alternatives, do say!

I am also aware of https://evidence.dev which looks interesting...

I should say that the page I maintain is static.

#azed #crossword #crypticcrossword

The azed crossword is known for being similar to The Listener in terms of its complexity and wide-ranging vocabulary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azed

But the most recent (2750, "Mixed Foursomes): https://uploads.guim.co.uk/2025/03/01/AZ_2750_(02nd_March).pdf -- has some of the most bizarre preamble instructions ever:

Clues are of four types:

1 Normal Cryptic

2 Letters Latent

From the answer to each clue the solver must omit one letter wherever it occurs (sometimes more than once) before entry in the diagram. Definitions in the clues refer to the full unmutilated answers: subsidiary indications, such as anagrams etc, refer to the mutilated forms to be entered in the diagram. The nine letters omitted, taken in clue order, spell out an appropriate two-word compound.

3 Misprints

Each clue contains a misprint of one letter, always occurring in the definition part. The misprinted letters (not the misprints themselves), when taken in clue order, spell out the same two-word compound.

4 Definition and Letter Mixture

Each clue contains a definition of the answer and a hidden mixture of its letters plus one additional letter, beginning at the beginning or ending at the end of a word in
the clue. The additional letters, taken in clue order, again spell out the same two-word compound.

Each group of four clues (except the group containing the asterisked one-word definition at 14 Down) contains one of
each of the clue types. Solvers must determine which is which. Numbers in brackets throughout indicate the length of unmutilated answers.

Good luck everyone. You need a PhD just to understand the blasted instructions! ;)