I like occasionally creating cryptic crosswords – very occasionally, as they take me ages. I’ve done music-related puzzles and water-related ones, and several bespoke crosswords to order, as birthday or Christmas presents for avid crossword fans. These use many words in both solutions and clues that the solver will recognise as relating to his or her family, familiar places, interests and so on.
I look forward to Azed competition puzzles (in the Observer) where you have to make up a cryptic clue for a given word, sometimes with prescribed constraints. So far, the best I’ve managed is a Second Prize.
I also enjoy the monthly Guardian Genius crosswords which have mind-bending special features.