The Times Crossword Masterclass: 23 January 2026

What a start to the new year it's been and the extraordinary clue-writing continues with John Guiver providing today's puzzle. It's hard to know where to start in terms of the sheer linguisitc pyrotechnics on display here; this is as good as it gets.

The puzzle is available to play on The Times crossword club website (which is behind their paywall):
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/puzzleclub...

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Mark's solve of The Times Club Monthly Special appears each month and there's also Simon & Mark's series' of videos tackling Spyder by Sabre (Listener 4884).

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▶SUDOKU WORMS NOW LIVE! ◀ You can try worms (strings of sudoku which feed each other) by Marty Sears or James Sinclair (or both – approx. $1 apiece) either on Steam at these addresses or on AppStore:
AppStore https://apps.apple.com/us/app/crackin...
Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/37...
https://store.steampowered.com/app/37...

** NEW CONTENT ON PATREON **
Mark's solves of last month's Back to the Future hunt have been released on Patreon.

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Twitter: @Cracking The Cryptic
email: crackingthecryptic@gmail.com

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Simon Anthony & Mark Goodliffe
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▶ABOUT US◀
Hi! We're Simon Anthony and Mark Goodliffe, two of the UK's most enthusiastic puzzle solvers. We have both represented the UK at the World Sudoku Championships and the World Puzzle Championships. We're also "cryptic crossword" aficionados. Mark is the 13-time winner of The Times crossword championship and twice Senior World Champion in Sudoku, and Simon is the former record holder for most consecutive correct solutions to The Listener crossword. We hope we can help your puzzle solving while also introducing you to some of the world's best puzzles.

Thank you for watching!
Simon and Mark

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