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Guardian Cryptic 30,127

by Budmo · Friday 2 October 2026

Budmo’s Friday puzzle is packed with variety: smooth anagrams, letters swapped in and out of words, and a handful of rare words you may want a dictionary for. The long anagram at 12/15/23 is a joy to untangle, and 22 across has a beautifully innocent surface. Medium difficulty overall, with a few unusual answers in the downs that the crossing letters will help with.

Solve it at the Guardian ↗Solving there supports the paper that commissions and pays its setters.

Across

  1. 1Rubber bird I replaced by middle of May (9)
  2. 6Best comedian with shaved head (5)
  3. 9Right bores enthusiastic about prelude (5)
  4. 10Piquant quality of Moroccan dishes including new spices, primarily (9)
  5. 11Autobiography shows charm (3)
  6. 12Mere end-of-year claptrap at work, or a good way to reward staff? (11-7,3)
  7. 14Medley of writing, perhaps, in distant past (7)
  8. 16Fish arrive in bays? (7)
  9. 19Laboured like some circus performers? (7)
  10. 22Annual ritual rearranging ten car seats (6,5)
  11. 24Former revolutionary with brief question for Treasury department (9)
  12. 26Overturned tennis umpire’s call for Don (3,2)
  13. 27Make stick shelter (5)
  14. 28One in women’s underwear going to the right restaurant (9)

Down

  1. 1Maybe Joey to leave motor racing track unexpectedly (4-3)
  2. 2Gossip about one being more smart (7)
  3. 3Vietnamese soup’s super when condensed, essentially – it reacts with proteins (11)
  4. 4Marsupial droppings covering car with roof removed (7)
  5. 5Managed two-thirds of schedule, showing animosity (7)
  6. 6Short, elegant letter from Athens (3)
  7. 7Jules, possibly, probing alien hypothetical communication infrastructure (7)
  8. 8In error, dispatch young woman with object (7)
  9. 13Having many locations, University claims millions put off (11)
  10. 16She wrote request to block setter, 50 (7)
  11. 17Swimmer cut my back (4,3)
  12. 18Methodist urban housing muddle (7)
  13. 19Performed song on the counter for drink (7)
  14. 20Better assistant is trendy sort with time for husband (7)
  15. 21Senior member cooked nurses bread in Japan (7)
  16. 25A number going naked the day before (3)

Puzzle by Budmo. Clues © Guardian News & Media, quoted for criticism and review. Not affiliated with the Guardian.