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It’s my 200th puzzle for the Observer’s Everyman series.

There’s an interview at the Guardian; Enigmatist / Nimrod has kindly assisted in the unmasking there and in the weekend i (print/subscription):

Delighted to have created a US-style puzzle and “The Most Guardian Crossword Ever” for this. If you missed it, “Most Guardian” is here and US-style is in puz and pdf or interactive below.

Two new features in my Guardian column. Recommendations for remote activities, and a collaborative playlist of music recorded under current conditions:

I’m writing some American-style puzzles at the Guardian [feed].

For British solvers, the main differences are that abbreviations and fragments of phrases are allowed. All squares are part of an across as well as a down, so there’s more ambiguity.

The puzzles are presented as printable PDFs, but are better approached as .puz files using Across Lite or better still Crossword Solver.

1. And We’re Off! [ medium: .puz / .pdf / solution .pdf ]
2. Cheers! [ medium: .puz / .pdf / solution .pdf ]
3. PO… [ tougher: .puz / .pdf / solution .pdf ]
4. Store’s In What? [ gentler: .puz / .pdf / solution .pdf ]
5. Cryptic Currencies [ gentler: .puz / .pdf / solution .pdf ]
6. (miscellaneous) [ gentler: .puz / .pdf / solution .pdf ]
7. Money Talks [ tougher: .puz / .pdf / solution .pdf ]
8. Shoot! [ gentler: .puz / .pdf / solution .pdf ]

See also:

• My book, Two Girls, One On Each Knee
• And also The Crossword Century
• Image taken in NYC, 5 Nov 2008, the day after the election

A short piece for the Guardian about “the best board games you’ve never heard of“:

Cosmic Encounter: Ignore the name. And the scifi-flavoured box. This is a strategy game, but the brilliance is that each player can utterly break the rules in a different way. One might be permitted to play out of turn; another might be allowed to declare themselves the winner if they go out first. What you do, and who you trust, is determined far more by this rule-breaking than by the straightforward mechanics underneath. The possible combinations of these disruptive powers mean that each time you play, it’s a thoroughly new experience – and each time, it’s the greatest board game you’ve ever played.

• Do Something: How to win quizzes – from pub contests to Mastermind
• Do Something: How to solve a cryptic crossword

Two pieces in today’s Do Something supplement: How to win quizzes – from pub contests to Mastermind and How to solve a cryptic crossword.

Also, I will be signing Two Girls, One on Each Knee (7) at the reception for the keynote of the Chiswick Book Festival this evening.

• 6.00pm, Sat 13 Sept: Festival Drinks Reception
• St Michael & All Angels Parish Hall, Bath Road, London W4 1TT
• Tickets