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About Unch

Unch is a physical crossword magazine featuring around ten cryptic crosswords per issue, both standard and advanced. We put out an issue every quarter.We want to use Unch to showcase the work of setters from a wide variety of backgrounds, and celebrate the online community of setters and solvers we're part of.We feature puzzles by experienced setters every issue, but also aim to highlight newer and up-and-coming setters wherever we can.We aim to be an inclusive and forward-looking publication, and actively encourage puzzles that explore using a wide range of cultural references.

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Editorial Team

Matt has been trying to solve some crosswords for more than twenty years. He's one half of Cryptic Sunday, and enjoys drinking coffee, riding on the bus, sitting on benches, and meeting new people.

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Setter Resources

• Style Guide
• Submissions
• Useful Links

Style Guide

General pointsWe want people to solve these puzzles! Difficult puzzles are fine, but keep the solver in mind.A good solver should be able to solve a standard Unch crossword without needing a dictionary or Google (they might need those afterwards to confirm, but should be confident when putting the answer in, even if they’ve never heard of it).We encourage setters to think about what they would think as a solver of each clue, particularly if there’s something unusual going on. Would it really be a satisfying penny-drop moment, or a roll of the eyes?That can be hard to do – and different for different people. Therefore, before submitting you must have at one person test-solve your puzzle. Our editors will test it too of course, but we’d prefer to see it at an advanced stage of completion!We know there are points we’ve set out below that are broken by some published setters. In general, “I’ve seen it from Setter X / Publication Y” isn’t likely to convince us! Believe us, we know how frustrating it is as new setters looking for what’s ‘allowed’ – but we’ve given these guidelines a lot of thought. We wouldn’t let those setters run roughshod over them either.ContentUnch aims to be an inclusive and progressive publication.We are likely to ask you to rethink clues using outdated or negative stereotypes. Please avoid words or terms that are likely to be upsetting or offensive. We encourage inclusive language and prefer diverse references. For example, we prefer a mix of pronouns, not just ‘he’ by default.References to the existence of sex or drugs are OK, as are mild swear words. But please steer clear of harder swear words (the F-word and up), anything liable to induce nausea in our editors, or anything marked ‘derogatory’ in a dictionary.GridsYou’re welcome to make your own grids or use existing ones (MyCrossword has a useful library).Especially if making your own, please try to avoid having more than two unchecked cells in a row (cells with no crossing entries).Clue balanceWe encourage a range of clues in puzzles. We don’t have hard and fast limits, but we’d normally suggest no more than six anagrams (with partial anagrams counting as 0.5), and two hidden words.Our editors – and solvers – vary in how they solve, but in general, we’d advise against having more than two consecutive anagrams clues, as that can stick out to a solver.AbbreviationsWe’re happy to accept abbreviations that have dictionary support. Abbreviations that are commonly seen in real life (e.g. ‘small’ for S from clothes sizing) are acceptable. Obviously what’s ‘commonly seen’ is debateable - contact us to check.We like modern references, and would like to move away from particularly old-fashioned abbreviations like ‘sex appeal’ for SA or ‘upper-class’ for U - although we will accept them.Nounal anagrindsThese are anagram indicators that even in the cryptic reading of a clue operate as nouns – for example “Gas explosion”, “key change”, or “absolute chaos” for anagrams of ‘gas’, ‘key’, or ‘absolute’.We can live with these, but they’re not our favourites. If you’re really asking, we prefer ones where the phrase actually means, say, “explosion of gas” than “chaos of absolute” (???).Indirect anagramsPlease avoid these! They’re not accepted in any national UK newspaper, and we don’t think even quite easy ones are satisfying for solvers.We don’t mind abbreviations being used as part of fodder though – but common ones only please, and preferably where they start with the relevant letter.CapitalisationAdding a capitalisation to mislead is fine – as there are times in regular language when any word might be capitalised. Removing a capitalisation to mislead is not fine, as there aren’t such times.First/last/outer/middle etc letter indicatorsThere should be a clear connection between these indicators and the ‘fodder’ you’re plucking a letter from.These are usually through showing possession, with an apostrophe + S or ‘of’, or an adverb or adverbial phrase, like ‘at last’ or ‘essentially’.“First of December” for D works; “Last December” for R doesn’t.If you’re taking multiple such letters using an indicator that can be pluralised, then please pluralise that indicator! “Beginning of The Lion King” doesn’t give you TLK, whereas “At first, The Lion King” does.We are happy with indicators like ‘essentially’ or ‘heart’ to mean the middle one (in an odd-lettered word) or two (in an even-lettered word), but not any bunch of letters.It’s generally best to only have one of these types of indicators per clue, or else they get quite ‘busy’.Definitions by exampleIf you’re defining an answer with an example of the answer, this needs a DBE indicator (like ‘perhaps’, ‘maybe’, ‘say’ and so on). Ideally this would be next to the example word – rather than that word being at the start of the clue, and a question mark at the end of the clue indicating it’s an example.Please also exercise common sense when deciding whether to use a DBE. Cluing VERB with any old verb isn’t likely to spark joy, nor is a random person for HUMAN. You see what we mean.We don’t mind names being clued without these – so ‘Eric’ wouldn’t need a DBE indicator to give IDLE, or vice versa - though we’d' need to judge these on a case-by-case basis depending on the person and how well-known they are. You’re also encouraged to give solvers a little more information, e.g. by specifying something about the person being referred to. As a general rule, the more obvious the link between the name used & the person, the less need there is for a DBE or further info. Donald for TRUMP is fine, as is Keir for STARMER (and vice versa). But Ed for BALLS is a bit far.Geographical indicatorsWe’re a UK-based publication, so our default is UK English.That means that, say, American answers should be indicated as such unless we’ve labelled the puzzle as having American spellings.In those cases, US English is the norm and a particularly British usage should be indicated. And so on.Like with definitions by example, we’ll apply a sense-check judgement to these. For example, to indicate a word is American, using a state, a currently-prominent politician, or a (very) well-known city is fine. But not just any place that happens to be American, or e.g. any ex-president, even if it makes for a better surface.HomophonesOften, whether two words are homophones or not can depend on the accent you’re reading or writing them in.If you’re at all unsure, please add some kind of indicator (as per the ‘Geographical indicators’ guidelines.)Unusual wordsThere is, of course, no fixed definition of an ‘obscure’ or unusual word. But if it’s a word you didn’t know, only knew because of your naval background, South American backpacking holiday, or Latin undergraduate degree, or it’s a word that you have just seen once before in a crossword and never again, then it might well be unusual.Basically, if you’ve got a word like that, please try to write a relatively gentle clue to compensate! We’d particularly recommend avoiding cryptic definitions (which give no wordplay for a solver to use to try to sort it out), and being very cautious of anagrams (try writing out the letters you’d have left after the crossers, and see if there is more than one plausible arrangement of them).Ambiguous cluesThere are two types of ambiguity: clues that are ambiguous before crossers, and clues that remain so afterwards.We don’t mind the former – it’s a crossword, after all. Although ideally such a clue wouldn’t cross with a particularly difficult one.Please avoid the latter, though. That can be difficult to spot – but common culprits are homophones where the homophone indicator is in the middle of the clue, and the two words are spelled quite similarly (like ‘grown’ and ‘groan’, if the fourth letter isn’t checked).IndicatorsThere are useful lists of indicators on places like Clue Clinic, but use your judgement! They have some slightly odd stuff.And try to make sure that in the cryptic reading, it makes sense. “Destroy” can indicate an anagram, but “Britney Spears destroys religious types” doesn’t work – you’d want “destroyed” here, acting as an adjective in the cryptic reading.Be careful when using more specific synonyms of established indicators. “Drinking” is a perfectly good containment indicator, but “sipping” or “lapping” feel at best quite laboured.Link wordsWe are happy to have clues without link words, or with link words. But where linkwords only work in one direction, what matters is the definition:Definition FROM Wordplay, or Wordplay FOR Definition.The wordplay part of a clue is singular in the cryptic reading – so verbs as linkwords will usually be compatible with that. For example, “making”, “makes”, or “to make” rather than “make”.PunctuationWe would always prefer that solvers don’t need to ignore punctuation in a clue, but accept that sometimes it’s required to ensure a better surface - though adding punctuation that breaks the cryptic grammar is a no-no.Advanced puzzles and other exceptionsWe plan to publish at least one ‘advanced’ puzzle per issue, usually a barred rather than a blocked puzzle. These are likely to contain more obscure words and for most solvers will require external references (like Wikipedia) in addition to the dictionary.We’re up for considering puzzles that go against many of the above guidelines (i.e. less strictly Ximenean) but this would very much be an exception and we’d need to label it clearly to give fair warning to solvers. If you have an idea for such a puzzle have a chat with Matt first please.Final thoughtsThese guidelines are not meant to stifle you, or turn setting into a dull, mechanical exercise!They’re there to help make sure Unch puzzles are fun and fair for solvers as well as setters (and to stop some of our more traditional editors' eyebrows catching fire).We’ve tried not to be too prescriptive in this document. You’ll notice we sometimes say that “we prefer” something. If you stray from this, then your editor may look for an easy way to rephrase the clue to avoid it. At the very least, we’d want to avoid having too many exceptions in one puzzle.

• Style Guide
• Submissions
• Useful Links

Submissions

We’re really excited to find and support up-and-coming setters, solve interesting puzzles, and meet new people who share our love of cryptic crosswords. It’s one of the most rewarding parts of what we do.If you’re interested in setting for Unch, get in touch at [email protected] and we can have a chat.Please note: we can’t accept unsolicited puzzle submissions.

• Style Guide
• Submissions
• Useful Links

Useful Links

Privacy Policy

Key detailsThis website privacy policy describes how Unch Crosswords protects and makes use of the information you give the company when you use this website.If you are asked to provide information when using this website, it will only be used in the ways described in this privacy policy. This policy is updated from time to time. The latest version is published on this page.This website privacy policy was updated on 12 August 2025. If you have any questions about this policy, please email [email protected].IntroductionWe gather and use certain information about individuals in order to provide products and services and to enable certain functions on this website.We also collect information to better understand how visitors use this website and to present timely, relevant information to them.What data we gatherWe may collect the following information:
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IntroductionWelcome to our website. If you continue to browse and use this website, you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions of use, which together with our privacy policy govern Unch Crosswords' relationship with you in relation to this website.The term 'Candlefish Publising', ‘Unch Crosswords' or ‘us’ or ‘we’ refers to the owner of the website. The term ‘you’ refers to the user or viewer of our website.The Contract between usWhen you place an order, including a pre-order, the order is only accepted once full payment is received. Once payment has been received you will receive an order confirmation. 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