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 33
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 33 Overseas Help for The Stickler Weekly 33 Solution … Continue reading
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Tagged cryptic crossword, online, printable, The Stickler
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The Stickler Weekly 32 Solution
A few weeks ago an old Stickler clue turned up on the newsgroup, rec.puzzles.crosswords (rpc). The thread is here. The clue was: Treat containing cold centre is special (4-3). The solver had the answer CHO(C)-ICE, but wondered whether the phrasing … Continue reading
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Tagged cryptic crossword, solution, The Stickler
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The Stickler Weekly 32
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 32 Overseas Help for The Stickler Weekly 32 Solution … Continue reading
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Tagged cryptic crossword, online, printable, The Stickler
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The Stickler Weekly 31 Solution
In the recent Crossword Unclued interview, I mentioned a crossword program, Crossword Compiler (CC), which I have used for almost 20 years. There are other crossword programs out there, but apart from some assessment in the early days, I’m not … Continue reading
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Tagged cryptic crossword, solution, The Stickler
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The Stickler Weekly 31
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 31 Overseas Help for The Stickler Weekly 31 Solution … Continue reading
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Tagged cryptic crossword, online, printable, The Stickler
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The Stickler Weekly 30 Solution
I was recently interviewed by an excellent cryptic crossword blog called Crossword Unclued. You can find the interview here. We covered a whole range of topics, but the focus was on life as a professional full-time setter and how I’d … Continue reading
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Tagged cryptic crossword, solution, The Stickler
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The Stickler Weekly 30
Back to normal this week. Certainly not as difficult as the last one. 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 … Continue reading
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Tagged cryptic crossword, online, printable, The Stickler
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The Stickler Weekly 29 Solution
The humble double-definition clue in some ways defines what cryptic crosswords are all about (two distinct paths to the answer), but in other ways is nothing like a typical cryptic clue. Let me explain. It’s very tempting to cite double … Continue reading
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Tagged cryptic crossword, solution, The Stickler
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The Stickler Weekly 29
The Stickler Weekly is a little different this week. It’s a puzzle that I was working when I found out about The Stickler’s demise, and has sat unfinished for 10 months or so. It has some unusual words that hopefully … Continue reading
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Tagged cryptic crossword, online, printable, The Stickler
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The Stickler Weekly 28 Solution
Last December I had the privilege of showing a prominent UK setter, Don Manley, around Sydney. Don and his wife, Sue, were special guests at the Australian Crossword Club‘s annual get-together at the Harold Park Hotel. Don has written crosswords … Continue reading
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Tagged cryptic crossword, solution, The Stickler
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