Daily Cryptic (The Globe and Mail)
A cryptic crossword every day from The Globe and Mail, with a Canadian cryptic on Saturdays.
Every day: One cryptic crossword each day, the same grid for every reader, chosen by the date in Toronto; Saturday's puzzle is an exclusive Canadian cryptic. Earlier puzzles stay in an archive. New puzzle: Midnight Eastern Time (Toronto).
The Globe and Mail puzzles and crosswordsDaily Cryptic archive
The Daily Cryptic is The Globe and Mail's cryptic crossword, played in the browser. Every clue hides its answer in wordplay as well as a definition, a new grid arrives each day for all readers, and Saturday brings a cryptic made in Canada for the paper.
About Daily Cryptic (The Globe and Mail)
The Daily Cryptic sits on The Globe and Mail's puzzles and crosswords page with the paper's regular Daily Crossword, the Globe Mini, Sudoku and Wordfinder. The paper calls it witty wordplay and exercise for your frontal lobe, and points readers to Saturday's exclusive Canadian cryptic.
A cryptic clue has two halves: a plain definition of the answer at one end and a piece of wordplay, such as an anagram, a hidden word or a sound-alike, that builds the same answer another way. Solving means finding where one half stops and the other begins.
The grid you get is chosen by the date in Toronto, so all readers solve the same puzzle each day. Missed days are kept in the archive. It suits solvers who already enjoy the regular crossword and want something slower and more playful, and anyone in Canada looking for a cryptic set with Canadian readers in mind on Saturdays.
How to play Daily Cryptic (The Globe and Mail)
- Open the Daily Cryptic on The Globe and Mail's puzzles page and press Play.
- Pick a clue, across or down, and look for the definition at its start or end.
- Work out the wordplay in the rest of the clue: an anagram, hidden word, reversal, sound-alike or a charade of parts.
- Type the answer when both the definition and the wordplay agree.
- Use crossing letters to break into the clues you could not crack, and fill the whole grid.
Tips
- Words such as 'broken', 'mixed' or 'wild' often signal an anagram of nearby letters.
- 'Some', 'in' or 'held by' can mean the answer is hidden inside the clue's words.
- The surface meaning of a clue is usually a decoy; read each word for its puzzle job.
- On a hard day, check the archive for an older grid and come back to today's with fresh eyes.
Questions
Is the Globe and Mail cryptic crossword daily?
Yes. The Globe and Mail lists the Daily Cryptic as a daily puzzle, and the grid changes with the date in Toronto.
What is special about Saturday's cryptic?
The Globe and Mail describes Saturday's puzzle as an exclusive Canadian cryptic.
Can I play past Globe and Mail cryptics?
Yes, the Daily Cryptic has an archive page.
Is it free?
It plays on the newspaper's ad-supported puzzle page. The page marks only the Giant Crossword as being for subscribers.
Games like Daily Cryptic (The Globe and Mail)
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The Times Quick Cryptic
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Minute Cryptic
One cryptic clue a day, good practice for the full grid
Globe Mini (The Globe and Mail)
The Globe and Mail's quick daily crossword, on the same page
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