UKH

Mrs Wilko loves a kakuro or some such, but for me it has to be cryptic crosswords. I'm not very good at them, and have given up on the Guardian ones as all the old setters have died off or retired and the new ones aren't on my wavelength (RIP Araucaria). Number puzzles are so boring and you never get a laugh out them, which you can with a cryptic. There was a great one in the Westmorland Gazette recently:

Fiery, being of South American heritage (12).

Do you have a favourite?

I also love a crossword - although usually do the quick ones. Cryptics are beyond my tiny brain / patience. 

Number problems aren't my bag.

Both, though I prefer the easy crossword clues.  I don’t do cryptic ones often enough to get properly clued-in.

Have recently started killer sudoku which I’m enjoying 

I hate crosswords with a deep hate, though I love reading

Numbers are fascinating

But I love chess most of all

Mixed bag for me. Been working my way through some geo-art (a form of geocaching where the setter uses a series of puzzles to draw a picture on the map) recently - quite a good recent one in central Brum in the shape of a bull's head.

Incandescent.

A Wrinkled Retainer? (7)

Deposit? 

Numbers for me. I wish they didn’t, but Cryptic crosswords mostly just irritate me. 

No

Baffled at the moment. But here’s my favourite over a number of years:

Confirms what Goldilocks found. (5,3)

It's been a long time since I've done either. When I used to it was always the number problems. I enjoy the quick crosswords too (not very good at them though). Cryptic crosswords are just a complete mystery to me, I've had someone give me some answers and "explain" why these answers correspond to the clues before but I'm always totally mystified and unable to follow the train of logic or apply it even vaguely to another clue. People have also told me that you really have to know how the person who sets the cryptic thinks and tbh I'm suspicious that learning to think like a crazy person might turn me into one.

Good because it was based only on number of letters and “retainer” in a non-cryptic way and I couldn’t make it fit “wrinkled” 😃

scrotum

Gegs (9,4)

Bears out 

Nice one! 

You've bagged it!

Scrambled eggs.

In replying to Rob Parsons:

OK, here’s another favourite:

Erica and how to warm her up. (7)

Ca  (4,3)

Neither. Don't see the appeal and I would avoid anyway just in case there is some sort of addiction risk.

Another baffling one!

Heather

As I said, I'm not at all good at them, but I think even to be a sort of V Diff solver you need a certain sort of mind. I didn't think I could even begin to do them until we were stormbound in the Britanniahutte in Saas Fee and by about 1.30 I was climbing the walls with boredom. I'd read everything in the Daily Telegraph which was the only paper we could find and then saw the cryptic crossword. I must have had a few ideas of how the clues worked because I managed to solve a few quite quickly, and it kept me entertained on and off till bedtime. Oddly, as I'm not known for my patience, I still find I can spend a lot of time happily wrestling with cryptics, although if I don't soon find an answer or two I tend to move on. Even doing fairly easy ones like the local paper and the Observer Everyman I often find there's a couple of clues which really stump me. The very odd thing is, though, how often when you look at them again next day the answer comes straight away. It's as if the unconscious mind has been mulling it over all that time.

I like the idea of cryptic crosswords but don't do them because when I'm told the solution I realise how thick I am. Sometimes I don't understand the solution but mostly I do but haven't been clever enough to get it.

For example the 'Fiery, being of South American heritage(12)' and 'Confirms what Goldilocks found(5,3)' are great but I couldn't solve them.

Dave

It's a lot harder to solve them just on their own. I didn't manage Fiery until I had some of the letters. My usual way into a cryptic is to look for the anagrams. There's usually a couple or more (sometimes too many, it gets boring) and there are ways of spotting them. 

BTW, here's another favourite I've just remembered:

Award is reportedly a shock for small hen (8,5)

manx cat

Pulitzer Prize 

Correct. Took me a while to figure out it was a tail-less cat.

If I'm honest, I'm probably just bitter that I can't do them

And I think my motivation is probably similar to yours, in that it would take being stormbound in a hut with absolutely nothing else to do before I would be bored enough!

Also, I'm a sore loser. I don't mind losing a game if I'm not trying but if I put a lot of effort into it and lose anyway, it annoys me, for no particularly good reason. And putting a lot of effort into a crossword and still losing would no doubt annoy me too.

Pulitzer Prize is a great one.

That reminds me of another cracker:

There's no end of cats there. (4,2,3)

In the past I've set a few crosswords for my club's Journal. This one pleased me:

"Musical Gift" is a three star route. (7,5)

Oh, and this one:

Good pro athlete is immune to terrorist's weapon. (4-5,6)

Bomb-proof runner

Perfect Pitch 

Hmmm - I'm of the type who look at the clue for a minute or two, then look at the answer, then look back at the clue - and then shrug my shoulders

Chris

Never mind Chris, it’s trivia.  It’s nothing compared with your achievements over the years, for which many of us are very grateful.

We’re clearly on the same wavelength.

Yes, this is why it is so irritiating - nothing deep or universal or interesting, just conventions, which,as someone said, even vary from setter to setter.

Erotica? 

For something which is of no interest to you, you seem to be getting unnecessarily exercised about it ...

Isle of Man 

The fact that I am completely uninterested in doing a crossword myself does not mean I do not find it interesting that others are interested in doing something that, to me, seems so devoid of meaningful content.

Climbing is also trivia. I mean, I love it, and it has given me a great deal of fulfilment in my own life - but let's not kid ourselves that it is in any way important.

Brilliant! 😂

Is this correct? 

You just don't get the 'fun' in that case. That's neither here nor there - who cares? - but I am surprised that you describe the experience as 'irritating.'

Yes - as indicated above.

I find the fact that it depends on arbitrary conventions rather than logic irritating. As others have said, it can still be baffling, even once explained - it is as if there are conventions within conventions.

It's all just stylistic wordplay. It's an amusement, that's all - like many things in life.

But if you don't enjoy it - or, even worse, find it irritating - my suggestion is just to ignore it, and walk away.

Number puzzles for me, well logic puzzles anyway, most involve a bit of counting. Cryptic crosswords are too clever for me, I've never managed to get into them.

Jk

I have zero skills at cryptic crosswords as I’ve never put in any effort at learning the conventions etc but just once in a while I can glance at some clues and spot an answer instantly, sometimes in front of regular cryptic crossword fans who are way better than me 99% of the time but might be stumped on the ones that I fluke. 

Once saw one that was to do with a river close to bursting its banks,  “a Trojan ‘ero”, and an inspection. I instantly got it as “inspectorate” despite not even knowing the term “in spate” at the time. Just from “Trojan ‘ero” really. I had to get my regular cryptic crossword friend to explain my own answer to me 😃

Never been able to get my head around how cryptic crossword clues work either. Do love a puzzle though, got a huge book of killer sodukos to stave off the bordeom and keep my awake on my night shift tonight and am partial to a kakuro as well.