Crucigrama Mambrino (El País)

About Crucigrama Mambrino (El País)

Crucigramas Mambrino is a daily Spanish crossword in the games section of El País, the Madrid newspaper. The paper is putting online the last crosswords that the constructor Mambrino made for it in 2014, posting one each day, so solvers get a classic El País grid brought back to the web.

Each day's crossword is the same for everyone who plays it that day. You fill the across and down answers from their clues, and because answers cross, the letters you are sure of help with the ones you are not. The page notes you can return each day for a new one, and earlier grids can be caught up from the archive.

The puzzles carry a named byline, Mambrino, rather than being machine-made, which is part of their appeal for regulars of the paper's crosswords. They sit alongside El País's other daily puzzles, including the current crosswords by Tarkus and the expert crossword.

It suits Spanish speakers who like a traditional clued crossword. Reaching the game means first making El País's cookie choice (free browsing with personalised ads, or a subscription), and a subscription lets you play without the limits non-subscribers see. The daily itself needs no payment once you accept the cookie terms.

How to play Crucigrama Mambrino (El País)

1. Open the Crucigramas Mambrino page on elpais.com and make the cookie choice (accept personalised ads, or sign in as a subscriber) to reach the game, then press Jugar.
2. Read the across (horizontal) and down (vertical) clues for the day's grid.
3. Click a cell and type letters to fill an answer; where answers cross, they share a letter.
4. Work across and down, using letters you have already confirmed to open up the harder clues.
5. Complete the grid, and return the next day for a new Mambrino crossword, or use the archive for earlier ones.

Tips

• Begin with the clues you are surest of and the shortest answers, to seed crossing letters across the grid.
• Lean on the letters from solved answers to crack clues you cannot get from the definition alone.
• These are classic 2014 crosswords, so expect general-knowledge and wordplay clues in Spanish rather than a simple word list.
• When a clue reads like a plain definition, try common Spanish synonyms that fit the number of cells.

Questions