Our Cryptic Crosswords group met on Wednesday 12 November 2025 to work on some more brain-teasers.

As well as testing the word skills, there was also a testing of General Knowledge required for a variety of clues from many of the daily newspapers and magazines available. The group was particularly pleased to find “grasshopper” when looking for an insect buying old clothing (rags and shopper).

There was also a discussion about the history of Charybdis – a Greek sea monster that lived in a whirlpool – that turned out to be the answer to “Whirlpool daily rejected by attractive women, but not husband”. The daily would be a Char, the rejected by is a yb, and the attractive women is a dish without the h for husband.

There are also simpler clues – “Hide in Arthur’s kingdom” turned out to be skin.

The next session will be on 10 December 2025 at 2:00pm.