It surprised me greatly to see the letters page on Saturday (27 August) turn into a support group for readers who fail to finish the cryptic crossword. Please keep the puzzles varied and difficult. Where would be the fun in pitting your wits against the setter’s if you always knew you were going to win? I complete around half the crosswords I attempt, and the pleasure is all the greater if I finish one by a setter I usually struggle with.
The clueing in recent years by the likes of Brendan, Arachne, Qaos and others has often been supremely inventive and elegant, to the extent that I set up a Twitter account to share some of my favourites. If readers would like a support group, I would be happy to share worked solutions to thorny clues (assuming one of us can solve them).
To those like myself who don’t always finish the crossword, I say this: take wild revenge to a height around the fourth! (5,4,2)
Mark Dunn (@cryptic_solver)
Oxford
• You can find solutions and explanations at the wonderful website fifteensquared.net – our 14-year-old daughter discovered it and appeared to have prodigious powers until we twigged.
Helen Smith
Winchester
• I hope Saturday’s letter writers complaining about the difficulty of current cryptic crosswords were sitting down when they turned to the bank holiday special. The 90-word instructions themselves were almost incomprehensible.
Martin Datta
Lincoln
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
