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Boatman Cryptics

@boatmancryptics.co.uk
493 followers 192 following 645 posts

Guardian crossword setter & teacher of aspiring word-fiends. Two books of puzzles & the stories behind them: see website for signed copies or to sign up for masterclasses or to commission bespoke puzzles: boatmancryptics.co.uk

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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 13h
You could add onto that the collected S Plath - Two’s better than one if you do the math.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 28/09/2026
Excellent! Consider yourself in ...
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 28/09/2026
Do it! People seem to enjoy it, too!
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 27/09/2026
Last call! I can take one more person on my autumn online masterclass for aspiring setters and advanced solvers if you reply in the next few days ... Release your inner fiendishness over two afternoons on Saturday 7 and 14 November: boatmancryptics.co.uk/crossword-ma...
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 23/09/2026
Very disappointing move by The Independent. Loss of its cryptic crossword will be felt both by readers and by the very many new setters (I’ve taught 33 of them!) for whom it’s been an essential route into professional puzzle setting. @the-independent.com please listen to your readers and reconsider!
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 21/09/2026
True, and they’re not even in their prime.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 21/09/2026
That’s what they all say!
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 21/09/2026
In @theguardian.com crossword tomorrow: oarsmen going to pieces? They’re prone to complain (7)
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 03/09/2026
Behold today’s passion fruit harvest and wonder …
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 02/09/2026
You just need to think about it for a few seconds …
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 02/09/2026
When you know, you’ll know.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 02/09/2026
Well, that’s a variation I don’t think I’ve seen before!
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 02/09/2026
Schrödinger’s suggestion: simultaneously proposed and denied!
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 01/09/2026
Hmm … it feels to me like an honest mistake or that the setter found such delight in the wordplay that all thoughts of finding an actual definition evaporated.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 01/09/2026
Exactly! You can be objective to some extent by counting the number of moving parts in the wordplay, but that doesn’t touch the question of which moving parts the solvers of the time would have been familiar with.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 01/09/2026
Has @theguardian.com crossword generally become harder or easier over the 90+ years of its history? There's a study out by @nomoremarking.bsky.social that offers some interesting insights. Link in my blog here: boatmancryptics.co.uk/2026/09/01/t...
boatmancryptics.co.uk
The difficulty of the Guardian Crossword, 1930 to 2026
Has the Guardian crossword become generally harder or easier over the 90+ years of its history? Chris Wheadon looks for answers in this study and finds a trend that can be attributed partly to chan…
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 28/08/2026
Hopper Head Hanningtons. It’s a Brighton thing. If you know, you know.
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Reposted by Boatman Cryptics
Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
We can afford nationalisation if only politicians understood it youtu.be/iyz-qzmNkCE?... Our politicians claim we cannot afford nationalisation. They ignore two things. We only pay with bonds, not cash, and the interest would pay the interest cost if they go at the right price.
youtu.be
We can afford nationalisation if only politicians understood it
YouTube video by Richard J Murphy
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 26/08/2026
… and if you want to know what that betokens, you’ll have to buy the book!
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 25/08/2026
Brava to masterclass graduate @heroncrosswords.bsky.social, who takes a well-earned place in @theguardian.com daily puzzle today!
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 20/08/2026
I can confirm that the letters C, A and T do appear somewhere in the grid. Also P, E, N, G, U, I and N. The fact that they may not appear in consecutive squares is no doubt further evidence of my deviousness.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 20/08/2026
Advance warning: in @theguardian.com #crossword on Tuesday 22 September. Let's play!
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 19/08/2026
You’re welcome - glad you liked it!
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 16/08/2026
Possibly the best use of what3words in its history ...
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 12/08/2026
Pinhole fun in Sussex …
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 12/08/2026
I feel your pain.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 12/08/2026
Have you tried them with HIJKLMNO?
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 12/08/2026
I suspect that you may be right, but I’d like to see the statistical analysis! Could be the 52:48 Ratio of Doom again …
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 12/08/2026
Well, there’s one here … Don’t know that I can claim it’s the *best*, though: boatmancryptics.co.uk/new-to-crypt...
boatmancryptics.co.uk
New to Cryptics?
Visit the post for more.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 11/08/2026
Don’t get me started on panini …
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 05/08/2026
This is probably the most Irish* thing that you will see this month. Unless you live in Ireland, of course, in which case this is the most Irish thing that you will see for the next 30 minutes. * As a person married to a person who is herself Irish, this is entirely a compliment
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 05/08/2026
Glorious! You have done humanity a service by sharing this.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 28/07/2026
We visited #ArundelCastle today (highly recommended and run by a trust, which may matter to you if you're concerned about giving money to the aristocracy) and Mrs B decided to play Sharon from Bootle all day. Much fun was had when one of the castle guides turned out to be from Liverpool herself.
A very grand bedroom at Arundel Castle
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 26/07/2026
… (c) leaving the garden centre sticker on the pot of narcissi that they had supposedly grown themselves.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 26/07/2026
This is a familiar scenario. Mrs B judges the children’s classes in our village horticultural society’s shows and has had to disqualify disconsolate children (or their parents) for (a) using felt pens in a painting competition, (b) entering a plant pot in the Flowers in a Vase class and …
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 25/07/2026
Thank you! 24 GB, so should be more than adequate ... Yes, images are embedded, but not much more than 100 of them. I'm perhaps being a little unkind in saying that it can't handle a file the size of a book - it's workable; I just have to get used to it taking 4-5 seconds to change pages.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 24/07/2026
The route that’s usually recommended of using Markzware to convert .pub files to InDesign format was woefully disappointing, with Markzware ignoring drop caps and misinterpreting kerning - odd.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 24/07/2026
Yes! It’s incredibly strongly featured (especially as it’s free) and it’s (surprisingly) more accurate than InDesign at recreating editable files from pdfs. It can’t really handle a 240-page book (it slows to a crawl) but otherwise it’s more than a substitute for Publisher.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 24/07/2026
I can't tell you how excited I am to be setting up an old laptop with a copy of Office 2021 so that I can continue to access 10 years of work and hundreds of files when @microsoft.com decides to kill MSPublisher for Office 365 users later this year!
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 20/07/2026
Thanks to the generosity of my sponsors, I can offer one free place on the class to anyone who would otherwise be unable to afford it, especially if you are from a part of society that's under-represented in crosswords. Apply here and expect decision in August: boatmancryptics.co.uk/crossword-ma...
boatmancryptics.co.uk
Crossword Masterclasses
Visit the post for more.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 20/07/2026
Places on my autumn online masterclass for aspiring setters and advanced solvers are starting to fill up, so this is a good time to make sure of your place ... Release your inner fiendishness over two afternoons on Saturday 7 and 14 November: boatmancryptics.co.uk/crossword-ma...
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 20/07/2026
Very sad to read, but a lovely obituary
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 19/07/2026
No turning back now … Oh, and it was 39 for me.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 15/07/2026
At the same time, both a correct statement and an incorrect answer! JAM today.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 15/07/2026
What Radio 4 flippancy are we indulging in tonight?
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 15/07/2026
Ha ha ha …
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 15/07/2026
Now I want to start a punk string section called Beathoven’s Filth. Or possibly a soul vocal quartet, The Four Jacks.
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 07/07/2026
Ha ha ha …
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 05/07/2026
Getting ready for our set at the Love Supreme Festival …
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Boatman Cryptics @boatmancryptics.co.uk · 02/07/2026
… at the end of which are subordinate claws?
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