Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle

Why can a crossword clue be impossible to solve one day but easy the next?

Solving a cryptic newspaper crossword
Maybe leave it until tomorrow? Photograph: Jeffrey Blackler/Alamy

Why is it that sometimes I can come to a complete halt on a crossword clue and just give up, but next morning the answer leaps out at me immediately?

Peter Hanson, Whitestone, Exeter

Post your answers – and new questions – below or email them to nq@theguardian.com

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Nearly half of Americans unaware of link between eating processed meat and colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in the US
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
“A historically significant instrument directly tied to the evolution of modern funk”: The bass Bootsy Collins used to record a James Brown anthem has been listed on eBay
The Fender Jazz Bass bought at auction for $40,000, has now been listed on eBay for almost twice as much. But you’ll have to bid an extra $299 if you want the original strings
Guitar World
Guitar World
“When you've been in a band you’re always, in the back of your head, thinking, 'Well, maybe this is it.' And I don't mind that feeling. I don't see it as a sad thing”: Mike Patton on feeling closure at the end of Faith No More
Band haven’t played live since 2016
MusicRadar
MusicRadar
“He picks it up, hits the corner of a stone table and puts a huge ding in it”: When Jeff Beck damaged an impossibly rare vintage Stratocaster – while he and Dweezil Zappa were at a party dressed as knights
This Fender once belonged to Steve Marriott or something… But Beck? He wasn’t too fussed. People pay for these dings nowadays!
Guitar World
Guitar World
‘It’s Actually Really Sexy’: Amanda Seyfried Gushed About Kissing Megan Fox In Jennifer’s Body
What a cult classic.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Starlight warped in the fabric of spacetime could help us find hidden black holes dancing together
Flashes of gravitationally lensed starlight could act as cosmic lighthouses revealing the presence of binary supermassive black holes in close orbit.
Space
Space
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play