I can’t decide whether those or the lemon/white chocolate ones from Waitrose are the best posh supermarket HCBs. The only way to be sure is to keep eating a pack of each every weekend.

#BredWed26 (ie BrewEd x WomenEd) today was energising and wonderful in that way that weekend CPD always is. Makes me nostalgic for the glory days of edutw!tter, if they ever existed.

Minute Cryptic - 11 January, 2026
"Oceanographer's 9 to 5 is noble?" (5)
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🏆 0 hints – 1 under the community par (55,700 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

Minute Cryptic - 10 January, 2026
"Original dry rot scraped from Victorian-styled drawer from centuries ago?" (2,5)
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🏆 0 hints – 3 under the community par (44,588 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

Got this from the definition almost immediately, then took all morning working out why.

Minute Cryptic - 8 January, 2026
"Get out! Shakespeare to banish Romeo and bring in Charlie?" (6)
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🏆 0 hints – 2 under the community par (103,883 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

Excellent. Minute Cryptic - 7 January, 2026
"i’m eyePAtched!" (5,5)
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🏆 2 hints – 5 under the community par (26,708 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

Working out what to do: 30 seconds.

Solving the anagram: 10 minutes.

Minute Cryptic - 4 January, 2026
"It's not just bad acting that he's into" (8)
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🏆 0 hints – 2 under the community par (37,755 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

That was funky; today’s is Parliament/Funkadelic.

I read 100 books last year, by the skin of my teeth. One of them was a picture book with about 80 words in it, but one was the entire stories of HP Lovecraft, so swings and roundabouts.

Snuck over the line with about 40 minutes to spare, then fell asleep (then woken up by fireworks). Hooray for me.

96-98 Oh my god, I’m actually either going to reach 100 or fall infuriatingly short. Two very enjoyable Rebuses (the first two, unless I’m mistaken) either side of John Lister’s excellent collection of writing on British wrestling. All four stars, why not.

94-95 Teenage Slasher was…odd. Ambitious but ultimately didn’t grab me. 2.5 stars.
Extinction Dream was an experience. Part claustrophobic space horror, part climate change apocalypse, part psychological thriller, part body horror. I was engrossed and outgrossed. 4 stars probably wouldn’t recommend

90-93 The Lovecraft collection has taken me since about February to read on and off. Hit and miss, but the hits are remarkable. Horror Movie started strongly but petered out; the Housemaid was a solid thriller; Addie LaRue was very good IMHO. Will I get to 100 by the end of the year?!

Delightfully daft. Minute Cryptic - 15 December, 2025
"Honey bear fails at beekeeping and misses start to hiving seasons altogether?" (3,4)
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🏆 0 hints – 2 under the community par (10,250 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s... l

80-89 Oops. Since no one’s engaging with this thread (or basically anything I write on BlueSky) this is pretty pointless, but I’ll complete this task for its own sake. Crunch time - 17 days to finish three books and read eight more…

Hardest one for a while. Fun though. Minute Cryptic - 8 December, 2025
"Went inside, texting "thanks xx"" (6)
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🏆 0 hints – 2 under the community par (22,693 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

I totally disagree. I think the passive verb “pushed” makes the whole thing work beautifully. It’s like the old definition of a joke - telling two stories at the same time. As a definition it’s not dictionary-standard but it’s not a stretch by any means.

Stared at this for so long before it finally clicked. Minute Cryptic - 30 November, 2025
"Sensitive hobbits in film trilogy originally pushed for characters to be taller" (5)
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🏆 0 hints – 1 under the community par (34,638 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

Wasted a hint confirming what the definition was, even though I was pretty sure it had to be that.

Minute Cryptic - 28 November, 2025
"Log location if returning by sub" (9)
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🏆 1 hints – 3 under the community par (19,095 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

The last two of these might be my two favourite ones ever.

Minute Cryptic - 25 November, 2025
""Ludicrous!" I interjected. "Ludicrous, ludicrous!"" (10)
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🏆 0 hints – 1 under the community par (27,330 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

Minute Cryptic - 24 November, 2025
"Unlocking kindness, insight and humility, starts with reflection!?" (5)
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🏆 0 hints – 1 under the community par (21,408 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

They are, but there’s two of them so it’s cheating. I recently spent almost all of a 2 hour car journey with them kneading and tweaking one clue. Not sure whether to call it craftsmanship or obsessive behaviour.

Minute Cryptic - 17 November, 2025
"Girl swapped clothes with boyfriend for a lark, perhaps?" (4)
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🏆 0 hints – 1 under the community par (64,070 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

Got this one quickly but took another 5 minutes to work out why. 🐷 Minute Cryptic - 14 November, 2025
"One is, in every way, a pig" (5)
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🏆 0 hints – 1 under the community par (27,295 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

Love this one. Minute Cryptic - 12 November, 2025
"Rouse ancestors holding one of these?" (6)
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🏆 0 hints – 2 under the community par (26,115 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

My wife’s aunt stayed with us for a few days in Sept to help with E’s nursery transition. She grated a load of cheddar on the first day she was in the house, so that she didn’t have to keep doing it. It had never occurred to me before and it’s such an obviously good idea. My mind is still blown.

😱 That was literally going to be my reply- Grocer Jack, Runaway and Johnny Remember Me were all regulars on Capital Gold’s playlist; it wasn’t till I became an adult that I realised they were part of everyone’s childhood!

I love this song. So creepy and weird.

Good silly fun. I’m sure some of the gatekeepers will find reasons why this is unacceptable. Minute Cryptic - 9 November, 2025
"NOO! SNOW AT 180º? Time to get drenched" (7)
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🏆 0 hints – 1 under the community par (36,820 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

76-79 I’ve become terrible at updating my thread, though at least I’m still doing it. Dirk Gently was a bit of a disappointment ***; SKSG was daft and somewhat holey of plot **; Magician’s Nephew had some wonderful moments ***; The Haar was gruesome, sad, silly and then more gruesome ****.