Definitions, Defintitions

Cryptic Crosswords
Part Two

The simplest type of cryptic crossword clue takes a word and gives it's definition, twice. We call them double definitions. Now it might not sound that difficult, but as we've discovered in our adventures in the world of words, many words have multiple meanings.

So what you get with a double definition is often two quite different definitions with the challenge being to find the one word which matches both.

Something Cryptic This Way Comes

Cryptic Crosswords
Part One

I still remember the first cryptic crossword clue I solved, it was Monday 25th February... 2013. Yes that's right, yesterday. So you might wonder what I can possibly teach you about solving them.

A Matchstick Made in Heaven

Table Games
Part One

So, where exactly can I buy coloured matchsticks, and what on earth would I use them for? The Wandering Puzzler is on the road, shopping as usual, and is getting to grips with the basics of matchstick puzzles

Turning Back The Sands of Time

Time and Space
Part Four

In our continued quest for elegance in solutions to time and space puzzles we revisit the sand timers with a video and more time lines, explaining just how to get the most elegant of solutions.

Breaking the Space Time Continuum

Time and Space
Part Three

We're breaking out the sand timers and the jugs again as we search for increasingly well composed solutions to measuring puzzles. Then we attempt the theoretically impossible when we try to break the space-time continuum, with toast.

Word Addicts

Word Mechanics
Part Five

We're back onto word puzzles for today's exercise, and exercise is what it's all about. Well, it's about the meanings and properties of words - which will prove good practice for when we delve into the dangerous and mysterious world of cryptic crosswords.

A Birthday Bonanza

Arithmetic
Challenge One

Here's a mathematical trial to test your arithmetic skills. The whole post is a puzzle so do your best to decipher the clues and find the answer!

A Sandy Situation

Time and Space
Part Two

Today it's a day on the sand - and it's still not all it promises. The second cousin of the jugs problem is all about timing. You are generally presented with sand glasses of known duration, or candles of known burn time, and asked to measure a specific length of time.

A Pair of Jugs

Time and Space
Part One

I'm sorry, but you knew there was going to be smut when you entered into this little student-teacher arrangement and this set of puzzles is too good an opportunity to miss.

Of course I'm speaking not about any part of the female anatomy, but one of the oldest and most varied puzzle sets there is - measuring puzzles. 

Hidden Equations

Algebra
Part Three

So far we have looked at simultaneous equations that were hidden in plain sight, as it were.

Of course most puzzles that rely on equations try and hide the method behind flavour; either in the guise of an elaborate story, where a key piece of information is implied but not stated. Or as a diagram, hiding the maths behind abstract imagery.

Where No Number Can Be Found

Algebra
Part Two

The difficult in algebra puzzles is very rarely found in how difficult the mathematics is, where would the fun be in that. No, the challenge of a simultaneous equation puzzle is in deriving the equations that lead you to the answer.

Today I'm going to arm you with just the skills you need to do that.

The Whole Truth

Riddles
Part Five

If you've ever wondered where I get the ideas for my puzzles this is the post you have been waiting for. A merry jaunt around inspiration leads to a puzzle about holes and wholes.