Ludwig's Guardian crosswords

Every Ludwig Quick Cryptic

The table contains nineteen confirmed puzzles, from number 42 in January 2025 to number 125 in August 2026. The dates use month and year so a newspaper page’s time-zone display does not make the same puzzle appear to belong to two different days. Number 42 is a January puzzle; number 47 follows in February.

These are Quick Cryptics, rather than every kind of crossword under the byline. The Guardian also publishes other Ludwig puzzles, including standard cryptics and Minis. Keep those categories separate when choosing a starting point. The dated list below is a useful route into the Quick Cryptics we could confirm, rather than a promise that the newspaper will never add another.

The Guardian’s Ludwig profile is the place to check for later additions. The Guardian puzzle is the original; Fifteensquared is an independent solving blog. Its explanations give away answers, so leave that column alone until you are ready for help. A solution page is most useful when you have a particular clue to understand, rather than when you want the whole grid revealed at once.

How the show’s puzzles were made

Guardian crossword editor Alan Connor consulted on Ludwig’s puzzles and collaborated with setter John Henderson, known as Enigmatist.

The enjoyable link for a viewer is that there is something to do after watching. You can move from seeing John think about a problem to testing a real clue yourself. You do not need to imitate his speed or remember the plot to use this page: the newspaper puzzles stand on their own.

Keep the fictional character and the published byline distinct. A character can be written as a brilliant setter without being the person who physically compiles a real newspaper grid. The direct links let you see the puzzle and its byline in the original publication instead of relying on a television screenshot.

Where to start

If cryptics are new to you, read how to solve a cryptic crossword like Ludwig before opening a grid. It explains the main wordplay devices with original examples and keeps their answers hidden until you ask for them. Try one mechanism at a time; recognising an instruction is more useful at first than trying to finish quickly.

Choose any Quick Cryptic in the table and read the puzzle’s own introduction before beginning. Look at the answer lengths and any crossing letters you already have. When a clue suggests an anagram, write its possible letters down rather than juggling everything in your head. When it suggests a hidden word, scan the actual letters across the spaces between words.

You can leave a clue and return to it. A single crossing letter may be enough to make a later reading obvious. That does not make the earlier attempt wasted: it has shown you which interpretation needs another look. If you use a solution, take a moment to explain the wordplay in your own words before moving on.

The six tricks cryptic clues use

Most clues give you two routes to the same answer: a definition and a construction. These six devices are a practical starting set, rather than an exhaustive list. A clue can combine devices, and a word that looks like an instruction can sometimes be part of the definition instead.

Anagram: rearrange letters

An anagram uses a supplied set of letters in a new order. Look for wording that suggests mixing, movement or disorder, then test the neighbouring words as the letter supply. The answer must use the right letters in the right quantities. A plausible word with a spare letter is not a completed solution.

Hidden answer: look inside

A hidden answer appears consecutively inside the clue’s wording, sometimes across a word boundary. Read the letters rather than the sentence’s story. The definition still matters: spotting any short word inside a longer phrase is not enough unless it answers the clue and fits the stated length.

Charade: build in pieces

A charade joins short answers, synonyms or abbreviations. Solve each part and put the pieces beside one another in the order the clue requires. When an abbreviation is unfamiliar, check a reliable reference afterwards. You want to learn why the letters work, rather than treat an unexplained answer as a rule to memorise.

Reversal: read backwards

A reversal turns a letter sequence around. Words such as “back” can suggest it, though the whole clue decides their job. In a down clue, an upward movement can serve the same purpose. Write the original sequence and the reversed sequence out: seeing both often makes an accidental extra letter easier to catch.

Double definition: find two meanings

A double definition points to one answer through two different meanings. You do not necessarily have a packet of letters to manipulate. Ask whether the same word can satisfy each side independently. The worked PUNT example in the beginner guide shows how one ordinary word can lead in two directions.

Homophone: trust your ears, then check

A homophone uses a word or phrase that sounds like another. An instruction such as “we hear” can signal the change. Read the candidate aloud and check the answer length. Similar spelling alone does not establish the sound, and a soundalike must still match the definition.

Books for solvers

A collection gives you somewhere to practise away from a screen and room to write notes beside an awkward clue. Before buying, decide whether you want a teaching guide or a book of puzzles. The first explains a method; the second gives you more occasions to apply it. Check whether the edition offers explanations as well as a completed answer grid.

The books for Ludwig fans guide brings crossword practice together with logic puzzles and reading suggestions. Pick the level that suits you now, rather than the book that sounds most difficult. A manageable puzzle you can explain afterwards is a useful next step.

Is there a Ludwig puzzle book?

No official Ludwig puzzle book has been published in the sources checked for this guide. The real newspaper crosswords are linked above. The Silva Screen Record Store Day 2025 announcement also confirms a crossword insert with the transparent-red vinyl soundtrack released on 12 April 2025, with music by Nathan Klein and Finn Keane.

A soundtrack insert is not a separate puzzle book. If that is what you are looking for, check the release details rather than assuming that every soundtrack edition includes it. For the longer answer and related practice books, see the real puzzles behind Ludwig. For the rest of the site’s original solving activities, return to the puzzle hub.