21 comments on “RIP Mike Holmans”

  1. Very sorry to hear that news. I enjoyed one of his puzzles only last Saturday on Big Dave’s site.

  3. Sad news, indeed. I only knew him as Alchemi but have no recollection of ever being disappointed by one of his puzzles in the Indy. Far from it, I always expected a bit of magic.

  4. That’s terrible news. Mike was a lovely bloke with whom among others I spent several pleasant afternoons outside The George, waxing lyrical about this, that, and crosswords in general. Incredibly talented colleague, whose puzzles always gave me pleasure, that is when I wasn’t being stunned by his ingenuity. RIP.

  5. Sorry to hear this, Michael* and I met a few times and we had a running gag in my blogs and his replies. RIP sir.

  6. I am sorry to hear this, too. I enjoyed his puzzles as Alchemi enormously and found them very challenging, always inventive and scrupulously fair.

  7. This is really rubbish news. I saw Mike earlier in the year at Colin Inman’s retirement party in London and he seemed on fine form, although of course I know he had had some pretty challenging problems in the last few years. Mike was a lovely guy and one of my favourite compilers. RIP.

  8. Loved the smut in his clues as well as his thematic ones. RIP Chalmie. Just realised Chalmie is an anagram of his two other aliases.

  9. Sorry to read this news. I always liked Alchemi puzzles – he really knew how to work a theme.

    RIP Michael.

  10. #Ong’ara yes all anagrams of Michael. To quote our conversation a third rate setter and and fourth rate blogger. He was first rate pity the last time we met was Cambridge S&B I organised so long ago

  12. Very sad news. Obviously I was aware of his medical problems, but was hoping they had been alleviated. He loved his crosswords and his cricket and, as his themes attest, his rock music. RIP Mike.

  13. Very sad and shocking. I knew Alchemi only through his crosswords, but they were ingenious, sometimes funny and, for me, educational. RIP

  16. I worked on a team with Mike back in the 90s. He was a really good chap, always helpful and polite. Above all, he was very interesting and somebody you could talk to for hours on end. And we did.

  18. I never met him, as I live in NZ, but I have been his test solver since 2013 – a real privilege and lots of fun. As has been said, he was very skilful with a keyword type theme. I had hoped to meet him at an S&B one day. I have been worried because he hadn’t sent me any puzzles for a while. I will miss him very much. My thoughts are with his family and friends too.

  19. Very sad to hear. I always enjoyed tackling the Alchemi and Chalmie puzzles which have been a fixture here for years. My condolences to his family and those who knew him well.

  20. That’s very sad news indeed. I always had a soft spot for Chalmie’s puzzles (I generally knew him by this name). They were consistently clever and entertaining and among the first I was able to complete when I first started solving cryptics a few years ago. I always looked forward to his grids and I’ll miss them very much, as will everyone else here.
    RIP, Michael.

  21. I blogged a clever Chalmie themed puzzle earlier this year, and I received some helpful feedback from the setter himself in the comments. I am sorry to hear of his death.

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