Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Henri (& Odo)

@henriwords.com

130 followers 180 following 860 posts

I set #cryptic #crosswords as Henri (mycrossword.co.uk, Inquisitor, Gnomon and henriwords.com), Odo (Guardian), previously Jaspa, occasionally half a Mort. Rob Townsend, really

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · Apr 9

🥁🥁🥁
I'm pleased to announce the launch of the HenriWords email newsletter – get one free barred thematic #cryptic #crossword a month, until I run out of material! Plus an introductory mini-puzzle on signup. Monthly ones start in May.

Sign up at henriwords.com

Cryptic Crosswords by Henri

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 11h

This is not only a good limerick, it’s contextually appropriate to the conversation 👍

Dave Williams @skirwingle.bsky.social · 12h

See, where it says limericks in my profile, it's NOT a lie :-P

The Void ザ・ヴォイド @thevoidtlmb.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy · 2d

#offgridpod out-take from #podcast Ep 60. Everyone's a critic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MseIcqw7b0

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 19h

hey if I don’t blow this trumpet, who will 😆

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 19h

what? *innocent face*

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 22h

Hey #cryptic #crossword fans, it’s Midweek Mini time again 🥳

Sample clue:

Ancient French king in depraved city, naked (3)

www.mycrossword.co.uk/mini/146

Forgive me 😆

Mini crossword No 146 · MyCrossword

Solve Mini crossword No 146 on MyCrossword. 7x7 grid with 11 clues by Henri. Published Wed 8 Oct 2025. Features annotated solutions. Free to solve online.

www.mycrossword.co.uk

Reposted by Henri (& Odo)

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 22h

I hope my faithful followers enjoy my latest cryptic, featuring:

Star trio cast as double-crossers (8)
Crossword setters you shouldn't have trapped in vice suffer (7)
American in the way of DC hero unplugging Tesla (8)
puzzles.independent.co.uk/games/crypti...

The Independent's Cryptic Crossword | Play Online for Free | Independent

Play The Independent's Cryptic Crossword instantly online. The Independent's Cryptic Crossword is a fun and engaging Online game from The Independent. Play it and other games from The Independent.

puzzles.independent.co.uk

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

Very nice 😁

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

Oh I like that 👏

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

Ha! 😆

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

👏👏👏

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

Ah I agree on need for ‘everyday’ words and abbreviations for entry-level puzzles; my argument is that they should exist in the middle of the Venn diagram of ‘everyday’ and ‘legit in a decent dictionary as well’ ! 😁

Sometimes setting for beginners is tougher than setting for advanced solvers!

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

Weirdly I subscribe to the ‘i’ paper and literally only ever look at the Inquisitor puzzle page. Similarly I had a Times subscription for three months and only did Listener puzzles! The rest of the paper was just dozens of pages of (digital) chip paper 😆

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

But my pedantic dictionary defence point is not that people should or shouldn’t *know* anything, merely that they can trust a single source to *check* something that they deduce through wordplay 😁

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

(case in point: I don’t know what EFL stands for, and I refuse to look it up 😆😆😆 )

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

I politely disagree 😁 a decent dictionary should be the *single* source an unsure solver needs to check. Newspapers, social media, industry jargon — all have their own idea of “reasonable GK” but a solver can’t be expected to be eg “Well EFL isn’t in *here*, or *here*, so should I look *here* next?”

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

If you take me into the bath I’m calling HR

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

OK so now I feel bad for one of my fallback tricks for very short words 😆

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

I’ll let @tpgrammar.bsky.social have a go first 😆

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

“Wake up babe, new crossword device just dropped” 😲

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

There must be *some* logic on the choices made by dictionaries 🤔(surely? please? 😆)

I’d love to see a policy document from Chambers on how they rule certain abbreviations (or even words) in or out

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 1d

My 2p:

Only top-right ones that are unimpeachable are S=small and L=large; their omission from Chambers is baffling.

Bottom-left: “they’re in the dictionary” is good enough for me; is a solver doesn’t know an abbrev *but can check*, that works. Exact examples I’d consider ‘fair’ depends on puzzle

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 2d

“CALL ME AGAIN!!”

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 2d

😆 They’re all easy when you know the answers

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 2d

Thanks! It’s EASY 😁

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 2d

Haha, I only found out about *that* Odo after I’d decided to name myself after an ancient King of France 😆

Henri (& Odo) @henriwords.com · 2d

🥁🥁🥁 I set the October puzzle in the Guardian’s Genius series under my new setting name ‘Odo’

Ever since I started crosswording it’s been my ambition to get into the Guardian, it’s always been ‘my paper’. Many thanks to @alanconnor.bsky.social for the opportunity

www.theguardian.com/crosswords/2...

Genius crossword No 268

Deadline for entries is 23:59 GMT on Saturday 1 November. You need to register once and then sign in to theguardian.com to enter our online competition for a £100 monthly prize

www.theguardian.com