About the Setter
David Stickley has been writing crosswords professionally since 1995. His cryptic puzzle, The Stickler, reached number 4786 before being axed in July 2013 due to cutbacks. In 2024 David and his wife Linda secured a weekly cryptic and quick slot in The SMH and The Age. David has also been published in the NYT, the UK's FT and Church Times.-

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Author Archives: David Stickley
The Stickler Weekly 13 Clue Hints
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Posted in Stickler Weekly Clue Help, The Stickler
Tagged clue hints, crosswords, cryptic, stickler
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The Stickler Weekly 13 Overseas Help
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Posted in Stickler Weekly Clue Help, The Stickler
Tagged crosswords, cryptic, stickler
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The Stickler Weekly 12 Solution
There are always elements found in cryptic crosswords that may cause division among setters and solvers: cryptic definitions, the use of extraneous words, subtraction techniques, the importance of surface meaning to name just a few. This crossword contained a contentious … Continue reading
Posted in Stickler Weekly Solutions, The Stickler
Tagged cryptic crossword, solution, The Stickler
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Stickler Boxed Set 1 Now Available
Hi Puzzlers, There were many requests for a book of puzzles at the time The Stickler was axed from The Daily Telegraph. A number of people stated that they were late in discovering the puzzle, so they would be interested … Continue reading
The Stickler Weekly 12
The Stickler for this week is now available. Please select your preferred solving format. The solution to this puzzle will appear next week. Clue Hints for The Stickler Weekly 12 Overseas Help for The Stickler Weekly 12 Solution … Continue reading
Posted in Stickler Weekly Puzzles, The Stickler
Tagged cryptic crossword, online, printable, The Stickler
4 Comments
The Stickler Weekly 12 Clue Hints
If you need help, Continue reading
Posted in Stickler Weekly Clue Help, The Stickler
Tagged clue hints, crosswords, cryptic, stickler
3 Comments
The Stickler Weekly 12 Overseas Help
If you need help, Continue reading
Posted in Stickler Weekly Clue Help, The Stickler
Tagged crosswords, cryptic, stickler
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The Stickler Weekly 11 Solution
It’s not uncommon to have a person’s name as an answer in a crossword, but have you thought about, in crossword terms, how different any proper noun (and names especially) is to an everyday word? First and foremost is working … Continue reading
Posted in Stickler Weekly Solutions, The Stickler
Tagged cryptic crossword, solution, The Stickler
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The Stickler 11 Weekly
The Stickler for this week is now available. Please select your preferred solving format. The solution to this puzzle will appear next week. Clue Hints for The Stickler Weekly 11 Overseas Help for The Stickler Weekly 11 Solution … Continue reading
Posted in Stickler Weekly Puzzles, The Stickler
Tagged cryptic crossword, online, printable, The Stickler
5 Comments
The Stickler Weekly 11 Clue Hints
If you need help, Continue reading
Posted in Stickler Weekly Clue Help, The Stickler
Tagged clue hints, crosswords, cryptic, stickler
2 Comments