[Kolya]

The most popular crosswords in the UK are the same type as those in the US. But some newspapers have an additional 'cryptic' crossword. (I don't know more than a couple of people who actually do the cryptic crosswords, but I guess they must have some sort of following.)

[mdda]

But the people who do the Times cryptic everyday during their commute know they're in a different class... (e.g.: http://times-xwd-times.livejournal.com/731666.html ). I certainly can't make much of a dent in a cryptic crossword, though the 'concise' ones are sometimes doable.

Here's a sample of each : http://crosswordclub.timesonline.co.uk/crossword/print?type=... , http://crosswordclub.timesonline.co.uk/crossword/print?type=...

There's definitely a ranking amongst the papers too.