Boatman - The First 50 : Collected Crosswords from the Guardian and the Stories Behind Them Paperback / softback

Fiendish and inimitable, Boatman is widely regarded as one of Britain's most challenging and innovative compilers of cryptic crosswords.

In this book, you'll find fifty of his puzzles from the Guardian, with an additional bonus crossword that was first published online in the Genius slot.

So much more than a puzzle book, here Boatman tells the story in his own words behind the development of each crossword: how he thought of the theme, the ideas that didn't make it into print and the unlikely coincidences that emerged afterwards.

You'll discover his working methods and the lively relationship between setter and editor, be able to enjoy extra teaser clues and hear from the solvers who took the time to comment on the puzzles when they were first published.

All the crosswords in this collection have been freshly typeset to make solving them an even greater joy, with full solutions and explanations of all the wordplay.Expect many hours of pleasure here, whether you're coming to Boatman's puzzles for the first time, looking for older pieces you may have missed in print, rediscovering half-forgotten favourites or returning to try again with a few that may have defeated you the first time round.