AN UNEXPECTED BIRTHDAY PRESENT (links added)

by

On behalf of Tom Johnson

A few days before my big birthday in mid-July, my wife, Jean, received a note from Peter Chamberlain asking her to ensure that we solved the General Knowledge crossword in the Sunday Telegraph the following Sunday.

As many of you will know, Peter has been compiling these puzzles for many years and has presented well over 1,000 so far. Each week his crossword will be a pangram, will very probably include a British place-name and a religious reference. We solved the puzzle (published on July 10th) and immediately became aware of some solutions which resonated with us.

So what did we discover in the completed puzzle? 11 Across was STATESMAN — I have compiled almost half the puzzles for the New Statesman since the series began in January 2010, and as from 2016 I have been editing each puzzle week by week with Peter being one of the compiling team. 27 Across was SPECTATOR. I have compiled a thematic cryptic for this series every third week since July 1981 (almost 700 so far), and have edited the series since 1999.

1 Down revealed GOZO (my pseudonym in the Financial Times), 21A was DIDYMUS which is my byname against the GENERALIST (at 8 Down) crossword in Prospect magazine — and the clue was one of the two religious references in the puzzle, the other being “Sheba” at 23 Down. MASKARADE (at 2 Down) is my moniker in the Guardian which reflects my love of this opera — and more generally — the music of Carl Nielsen.

Peter’s choice of place-name was our home town NANTWICH (at 12 Across).

He then acknowledged my love of the old BUSES (at 22 Across) on MALTA (at 25 Down), about which I have written two books, and he completed the set of ten appropriate solutions with JEAN (at 26 Down).

Since publication of the puzzle, another compiling friend has pointed out that CRUSTACEAN at 30 Across is a serendipitous inclusion, since Cancer the Crab is my birth-sign.

My thanks to Peter, once again, for dreaming up this lovely memento of my big birthday.

Here’s a link to the puzzle.

Here’s a link to the solution.

Here’s a link to Tom’s personal solution.

6 comments on “AN UNEXPECTED BIRTHDAY PRESENT (links added)”

  1. I remember a work colleague who was a train and bus enthusiast and sometimes visited Malta for the buses also told me he’d gone to Gozo at the time as well. So that would be the FT name connection. I’ve probably seen an interview with Tom Johnson as well that I’ve half-forgotten, but my colleague certainly showed me a book about old British buses in Malta – a long shot but I suppose that could have been TJ’s. I wish I’d paid more attention now!
    Anyway, what a great and thoughtful birthday gift to receive. Thanks for posting.

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