The Society of Crossed Words

Cryptic crosswords look like a locked room. They are in fact a door with nine keys, and the Society hands you every one of them, politely, in order.

Two little clues each morning, crossed at a shared letter. Solve the first and it hands a letter to the second. Ask for a hint, then another; when you finish, however you finish, each clue is taken apart in front of you: here is the definition, here is the wordplay, here is why the answer was certain all along. Do that daily for a few weeks and the gibberish becomes a game you know the rules to.

THE DAILY CROSSING
Two clues, hand set for beginners, sharing a single letter. Free, every morning, forever.

HINTS WITHOUT SHAME
Two gentle hints wait behind every clue. Stuck is a place, not a verdict, and a revealed answer is simply a worked example.

THE LESSONS
The nine machines a cryptic clue is built from, the anagram, the hidden word, the charade and the rest, each taught kindly with worked examples.

PRACTICE ROOMS AND THE ARCHIVE
A practice room for every device, and every past crossing kept. Full membership opens the whole library with a single purchase.

HOUSE RULES
No adverts. No accounts. No tracking. Your progress lives on your own device and nowhere else. It works offline on the train, which is where all the best solving happens anyway.

Membership is exclusive. Discretion is expected.