The Guardian — Travel • Jan. 12, 2026, 2:34 a.m.

Whether it’s for the satisfaction of completing a tough physical challenge or to raise money for charity, our readers select their most memorable adventures • Tell us about your favourite beach in Europe – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher When tackling a big cycling challenge, choose an event with strong support – it makes all the difference. Riding the full Tour de France route with Ride Le Loop was tough, but the incredible staff turned it into an unforgettable experience (riders can tackle individual stages too).

Their infectious enthusiasm and constant encouragement kept spirits high, even on the hardest climbs. They not only looked after logistics but created a warm, positive atmosphere that bonded riders together and amplified the joy of the journey.

My advice: pick an organised challenge where the team cares as much about your success as you do.

The Guardian — Life & Style • Jan. 12, 2026, 2:34 a.m.

Ease yourself into a routine again with relaxed silhouettes, cosy fabrics and slipper-adjacent footwear Continue reading...

The Guardian — Life & Style • Jan. 12, 2026, 2:34 a.m.

The solution to today’s puzzle Earlier today I set the following puzzle, a pre-commemoration of World Logic Day on January 14. Here it is again with the solution.

Middle management Continue reading...

The Guardian — Life & Style • Jan. 12, 2026, 2:34 a.m.

From Barclays, Cadbury and Clarks to Nith and Wampool, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz 1 What identically named comic strips debuted in the US and UK in March 1951? 2 Which pharaoh was known by later Egyptians as the Great Ancestor?

3 Which Spanish-language singer is the world’s most-streamed artist? 4 Which big cat has the widest geographical distribution?

5 Who was the first woman to train a Grand National winner? 6 What element has the lowest boiling point?

The Guardian — Life & Style • Jan. 12, 2026, 2:34 a.m.

Click here to access the print version. Normal sudoku rules apply, except the numbers in the cells contained within dotted lines add up to the figures in the corner.

No number can be repeated within each shape formed by dotted lines. Continue reading...

The Guardian — Life & Style • Jan. 12, 2026, 2:34 a.m.

Continue reading...

The Guardian — Life & Style • Jan. 12, 2026, 2:34 a.m.

Click here to access the print version. Fill the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 to 9.

Continue reading...

The Guardian — Life & Style • Jan. 12, 2026, 2:34 a.m.

Continue reading...

The Guardian — Life & Style • Jan. 12, 2026, 2:34 a.m.

Continue reading...

The Guardian — Life & Style • Jan. 12, 2026, 2:34 a.m.

New solvers would like to know how our puzzles work and we would like to tell them Around January in these parts we run a test on the dictionaries’ words of the year. Our thinking is that if a word really has left online cliques and entered general use, a crossword setter will have used it, as crosswords have historically been faster at recording language than the dictionaries themselves.

Of 2025’s winning words, VIBE CODING (Collins) and PARASOCIAL (Cambridge) are nowhere to be seen in puzzles. I expect to see SLOP (Merriam-Webster) in its new AI-generated sense before long, as my sense is that it’s genuinely useful and moving toward more general comprehension.

‘You gotta tell me how to crack the code,’ she pleads before we’ve even said hello. ‘I’m an avid crossword puzzler, but I cannot beat the Guardian crossword.

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