Forget Wordle, the best daily puzzle of 2026 is a fiendish Pokémon-based cryptic crossword game

The story

Over the past few months, I have developed a taste for cryptic crosswords. Different to normal crosswords, these puzzles revolve around clues that are self-contained miniature riddles, of sorts, that prioritise wordplay and brain-teasing, rather than just giving you a direct definition to figure out. The problem is, I'm not very good at them. Understanding them is like understanding a different la

From the source

The app is a gift for people trying to learn the arcane magic behind cryptic crosswords: there are free 'courses' that teach you how to understand the weird clues, broken down into letterplay and wordplay. In solving the clues themselves, the app gives you hints, allowing you to reveal either the fodder (the specific letters, words, or phrases in a clue that must be rearranged, manipulated, or used to form the answer), indicators (words that help you identify the fodder), and the definition (words that point to the meaning of the final answer).

It all sounds quite complicated on paper, I know, but using the courses on offer as a launch pad, you can start to unravel clues that - at first - seem completely nonsensical. Today's (6th May, 2026) is: A cat's head poked into nest! Ready wings for descent! (8) About a month ago, I'd have seen that and my synapses would have collapsed inwardly on themselves, but today, I can parse it. If you get an answer with minimal hints, depending on the difficulty of the clue, you can come in 'under par' by Minute Cryptic's standards - a really neat way of gamifying the experience and tracking your progress when it comes to solving cryptic crosswords.

Who and what

Key names and topics in this story: Forget Wordle.

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