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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Tag Archives: cryptic crossword
The Stickler Weekly 110
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 110 Overseas Help for The Stickler Weekly 110 Solution … Continue reading
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The Stickler Weekly 109 Solution
Solvers of my puzzles will know that I rarely do theme crosswords, however they are almost mandatory for the Christmas and New Year period running up to Australia Day. The Australian Financial Review (AFR) publishes bumper editions where I write … Continue reading
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The Stickler Weekly 109
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 109 Overseas Help for The Stickler Weekly 109 Solution … Continue reading
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The Stickler Weekly 108 Solution
If you read this blurb regularly you’ll know that I do a weekly search using google.com.au to see if anything is happening with cryptic crosswords in Australia. The actual search I do is “cryptic crosswords -youplay -lovatts”. The search will … Continue reading
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The Stickler Weekly 108
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 108 Overseas Help for The Stickler Weekly 108 Solution … Continue reading
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The Stickler Weekly 107 Solution
Last week I mentioned the ellipsis, which is the intentional omission of certain words based on assumptions made due to the context of the conversation or language. For a really good explanation of how ellipsis is used in normal English, … Continue reading
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The Stickler Weekly 107
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 107 Overseas Help for The Stickler Weekly 107 Solution … Continue reading
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The Stickler Weekly 106 Solution
Do you ever come across something in cryptics that seems wrong or not quite right, but, as it is published in a newspaper and doesn’t get criticised, you assume it’s not an error, instead that you are missing something? For … Continue reading
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The Stickler Weekly 106
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 106 Overseas Help for The Stickler Weekly 106 Solution … Continue reading
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The Stickler Weekly 105 Solution
How often have you tried a crossword by a setter you’ve never solved before? If you solve the UK dailies regularly, then new setters pop up occasionally and they, in most cases, will conform to house rules, making their crossword … Continue reading
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