# I solved a London Times cryptic finally **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** board-card-word-game\ **Created:** [October 16, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024 "2025-10-16T17:00:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/1 "2025-10-16T17:00:21Z")
I’ve been solving cryptic crosswords my whole adult life. American ones, e.g. the ones made by Cox and Rathvon. Generally I can do them without too much difficulty. For the last year or so I’ve been working on British puzzles from the London Times. They are far more difficult. They use a lot of obscure words, a lot of obscure meanings of common words, and worst of all a lot of Britishisms I have no clue about. So I’m happy when I can even figure out half the clues. But yesterday, for the first time ever, I solved a complete puzzle! Allow me to gloat satisfactorily. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/2 "2025-10-17T21:15:20Z")
Brilliant! ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/3 "2025-10-17T21:17:52Z")
Congratulations! Care to share a clue? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/4 "2025-10-17T21:24:53Z")
How dare you; isn’t “brilliant” almost a pejorative in England? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/5 "2025-10-17T21:27:30Z")
No, it’s just a marker of the verbal penury of the person giving the compliment. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/6 "2025-10-17T22:04:40Z")
That explains a lot about “Cabin Pressure”. To the OP: You do know, I hope, that Cox and Rathvon have put their entire archive online. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/7 "2025-10-17T22:14:21Z")
“Study a lot of pupils fit in” (7): CONFORM “Fit in” is the definition. “To con” means “to study”. “Form” is a British term for what we American call a school grade. “What’s missing from front of book? An insect” (7): KATYDID “An insect” is the definition. There’s an 1872 children’s novel, which I had never heard of, called “What Katy Did”. “Father loves taking king inside hotels abroad” (9): PARADORES “Pa” “adores” taking “r” inside. “Paradores” are a kind of hotel seen mostly in Spain. I had never heard the term before. ---
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/8 "2025-10-17T22:51:53Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > But yesterday, for the first time ever, I solved a complete puzzle! Allow me to gloat satisfactorily. Congratulations! I remember solving my first Times. It took me four days, but worth every minute 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/9 "2025-11-12T23:47:10Z")
Congrats! I don’t think I’ve ever solved more than one clue. My brain just doesn’t seem to work that way. I know, practice, practice, practice. It’s still beyond my ken. Well done! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/10 "2025-11-13T00:30:16Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > “Paradores” are a kind of hotel seen mostly in Spain. I had never heard the term before. I believe they’re mainly found under the moon. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2025, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/11 "2025-11-16T04:54:45Z")
FYI the Guardian’s crossword puzzles, including their daily cryptic, are freely available online > **[Crosswords | Online and free | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords)** > > Free crosswords that can be completed online by mobile, tablet and desktop, and are printable. Daily easy, quick and cryptic crosswords puzzles. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2025, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/12 "2025-11-16T05:19:43Z")
I find cryptics depend a lot on the author. I actually find the English ones more consistent with my way of thinking. The Globe and Mail guy loves anagrams but does not really use the full palette of options. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/13 "2026-01-02T17:39:58Z")
I do the Financial Times puzzle. If ever a setter requires a knowledge of Cockney rhyming slang to solve a clue, that setter is ignored by me forever. Cricket terms I can learn, but “she’s me Barney Rubble” (= trouble = trouble and strife = wife) does not charm me. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/14 "2026-01-08T21:23:55Z")
I just saw this, and a big congratulations! They are incredibly hard, especially with all those Britishisms. I do have a strong fondness for those. In the 90s, I bonded with a best friend’s parents over many things, including cryptic crosswords. They bought me a book of London Times puzzles, and I keep them in the bedside drawer, and in the last 30 years I’ve completed exactly four of them. Those parents have since passed away, but every time I solve one I sent a note to my friend and let her know I’m thinking of them. ---
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-solved-a-london-times-cryptic-finally/1024024/15 "2026-02-21T12:28:19Z")
I generally like the Guardian crosswords, but I find their quality varies hugely by who’s setting them. If it’s Vlad, Shed, Tramp, or Picaroon then I don’t even bother trying because I know I’ll struggle to get even one or two. Conversely, if it’s Paul, Anto, Fed, Qaos, or Philistine then I know I’ll have a good shot at completing it. It’s all to do with how you think. Some setters are just more on my wavelength than others. The thing I prefer about the Times is that there’s much more uniformity in the style.