In the wake of the recent demise of what was Britain’s longest-running women’s magazine, The Lady, its former compiler Bert Baker has set up a Patreon page where ex-Lady folk and anyone else interested can subscribe to receive his puzzles each month.Most notable among these is a “spiritual successor” to something called The Ladygram – a unique puzzle featuring cryptic-crossword-style clues, but where instead of filling out a grid you gradually reveal a quote (a giant anagram of all the answers collectively).
While virtually unknown outside of The Lady’s readership, the LG was a fixture in the mag for 45 years – and prior to that, an earlier incarnation, The Leadergram, appeared in other titles such as Picture Post. Given the name, it may have originated in a magazine called The Leader, which was absorbed into PP back in 1950.
Bert is hoping to reach enough people – former fans of The Ladygram as well as newcomers – to make his venture viable long-term. Like other contributors to The Lady, he was given no advance warning of the magazine’s closure, and left without payment for some of his work – as well as being denied the opportunity to say a proper farewell to the readers.
His Patreon page is at www.patreon.com/bertbakerpuzzles and features a free “QuoteBox” puzzle, so those unfamiliar with The Ladygram can see what it’s all about.
This has now been added to the “Links” page: https://www.fifteensquared.net/links/
I just did his sample puzzle; it helps that the majority of the clues are approachable enough that you can have most of them solved before you need to use the acrostic and the quote to be able to get “crossing” letters. This is similar to an American puzzle type variously called a quote-acrostic, double-acrostic, or double-cross. The difference, of course, is that in the US puzzles, the clues are not cryptic, and usually many of them depend on general knowledge, which you can pick up by solving the quote.
Two other differences, both of which made this version harder, one in a good way and one in a not-so-good way: First, in American versions, there are black squares in the grid between words, which means that you can start working back and forth between grid and clueset much sooner in a US double-cross. (This is a good way of being harder, since where the clues are cryptic, it should be mostly about solving the clues, not solving the quote.) Second, in the American versions, the clues are lettered rather than numbered, and the clue letters are included in the grid–thus, if say the letter for box 124 is in the answer to clue G, that box in the grid will be labeled as 124G. This makes it so you don’t have to scour the whole clueset to find the blank you just figured out.
Thanks for taking an interest, mrpenney, and for the feedback. (And thanks to Fifteensquared as well!)
Re searching for a particular number in the answer boxes, I’m accustomed to solvers (on the whole) tackling my puzzles more gradually, which would probably make this less of an issue. Certainly it’s never come up before (or it hasn’t, at least, since I started doing The Ladygram, ten years ago!). But it’s a fair point – and funnily enough, I was thinking along similar lines just recently.
Minimalist that I am, I’m naturally reluctant to compromise the purity of the plain numbers – and I don’t want things to become “busy”, or to reduce the font sizes. Plus, who wants to just copy the Americans? 🙂 Instead, my thought was to introduce colours into the mix. Maybe a dumb thought – and obviously ink costs are a factor – but still, it seems… cleaner. Think I’ll play around with the template and see how it looks. Could maybe offer a colour version alongside the regular black-and-white, and see if anyone prefers it. As I said, no one has ever mentioned having an issue with the numbers before, so, you know.
An app version of the puzzle, of course, would feature auto-filling of each cell’s “twin” – but until I can learn to code it myself or pay a developer to do it for me, it shall exist only in my head. In any case, I suspect most of my subscribers will prefer to do things the old-fashioned way: on paper 🙂
Oh – I do produce regular (themed) cryptics as well, btw, if none of you lot care much for acrostics. No free sample of those yet, I’m afraid, but the clues in the QuoteBox are pretty typical of my style.
Dear Bert
So pleased to hear you have gone online. We were getting withdrawal symptoms! Please would you tell us the answers to cryptic crossword 2222 7down = Scotch? Pass (4) and 10 across – band, not taking sides, set off.(4)
These were in th last edition of the Lady magazine.
Can I just say how much we have enjoyed your Ladygrams over the years.
Liz
Dear Bert,
I just thoroughly enjoyed your sample Ladygram which references a novel I greatly enjoyed some years ago and features a very memorable female character. Wisely, this quotation was not the most risqué of her utterances which were what made me remember the novel so well!
Though I got my first overseas job through The Lady many moons ago, I doubt I would have attempted the Ladygram back then. Thanks for making this available and I look forward to more…
Liz @3 – thanks v much, and sure thing 🙂
7D: Scotch? Pass (4)
That would be KILL. Scotch as in “scotch a rumour/plan” and pass as in “pass time”.
10A: Band, not taking sides, set off (4)
That’s STRIPE (band) minus the outside letters (not taking sides), so TRIP (as in trip/set off an alarm).
Diane @4 – glad you enjoyed it, and yes, I had to reject a couple of alternative quotes for being a tad too salacious 😉
It’s remarkable what a huge effect The Lady had on so many people’s lives back in the day… I guess they’re carrying on with the recruitment side of things, so “the brand” will continue to do that for some.
I’ll probably upload another freebie towards the end of the month, so watch out for that! Not sure whether people will laugh or groan when they uncover the quote in that one 🙂
Ooh, now I’m intrigued!
I have absolutely enjoyed your Ladygrams for years and am devastated that I do not have this to look forward to ……. or do I ? Are you still producing them and can I get access?
Hi Ann – glad you enjoyed them! I can’t use the name “Ladygram” any more, but my new puzzle, QuoteBox (very Ronseal-meets-Apple, I know!), works in a similar way 🙂 If you go to http://www.patreon.com/bertbakerpuzzles you should see a free sample puzzle you can download/print out, and if it meets with your approval you can subscribe to “unlock” more every month (and the May puzzles from a fortnight ago). Planning to add a second freebie next week.
In case anyone returns to this thread, I’ve now added that second sample puzzle – including an experimental colour version, in case people like that and I’m not just crazy! It has a pleasing “80s summer” look to it anyway 🙂
Hi Bert
I’m thrilled that you are continuing sending out the leadergram. I was devastated to hear that The Lady is no more. I have to admit that a bought it for the ladygram. My school friend and I have been doing this puzzle since we were teenagers . It must have been in the Picture Post. We are now both 90 years old.
Hi Vickiann – I hope you and your friend enjoy the new sort-of-online version! Long-time fans such as yourselves are the reason why I couldn’t just abandon the thing without a fight 🙂 I don’t want to be the last steward of the puzzle.
(Though maybe I deserve to be, since I now have Bill Pullman’s speech from Independence Day in my head! Classy, eh? In my defence, it is rather Dylan Thomas-esque!)
I wonder if you might have seen it in The Leader first… I’m assuming that’s where the name “Leadergram” came from, but I could be mistaken. One day I may have to trawl through the British Library’s archives and (hopefully) resolve the mystery!