A eulogy from Tom Johnson (Maskarade, Gozo):
In memoriam Gordon Holt, Otterden
We are sad to announce that Gordon Holt, Otterden, the original editor of the current series of New Statesman cryptic crosswords has died aged 74 at his home in West Gloucestershire.
Gordon was a Londoner by birth and worked in town planning throughout his professional life, firstly on the normal milieu of local government town planning, but then with a colleague and only £600 capital, in 1972, he took the bold step of founding the weekly Planning Magazine which is still going strong forty years later. In the 1980s he established the Computerised Planning Appeals Service (COMPASS) to provide a searchable and indexed database of appeal decision letters. He was also the founding editor of the Development Control Practice guide to the development management process.
On retirement, Gordon looked for a wholly new hobby. Having been a crossword solver for many years (especially the Guardian, where the high priest of C20th crosswords, Araucaria, was his hero), Gordon threw himself into the world of crossword compiling. With absolutely no experience, he once told me, he taught himself what cryptic crosswords and clue-writing was all about. To marshal his thoughts and development, he started to write his “Faux Manual” for his own benefit, describing clue types and defining crossword vocabulary. He soon discovered 1 Across magazine which I edit – I immediately recognised Gordon’s quirky and irreverent style and published his puzzles regularly. Our friendship deepened and in October 2007 Gordon invited me stay with him and his wife at their traditional village house on Gozo during one of my regular visits to Malta when I researching material and taking photographs for the second edition of my Malta Bus Handbook. Hence my New Statesman identity as Anorak!
Gordon had long subscribed to the New Statesman. Knowing that the magazine had not featured any crossword for some years, he offered to compile for no fee a challenging Jumbo crossword for each Christmas issue from 2004 to 2009. During the summer of 2009 he was informed that the magazine was considering re-introducing a weekly puzzle and after a short period when old puzzles were re-printed, Gordon was invited to become crossword editor. He invited me to join him in this new project and we presented puzzles on alternate weeks from early 2010 – Gordon wished to offer a variety of puzzle styles to New Statesman solvers, and so thematic puzzles appeared along with alphabetical jigsaws and perimetrical puzzles. Illness and lengthy recuperation meant that Gordon felt unable to continue as crossword editor just over two years ago, and so Mick Polley, Atlas, joined the compiling team. Even so, Gordon remained closely involved with the puzzles each week, test-solving and commenting on each of our puzzles, and still providing the Christmas Jumbo. He continued to supply his weekly “NS Word Puzzles” challenge each week, with number 305 appearing in last week’s issue.
In the summer of 2013, in an interview with Alan Connor for the “Meet the Setter” series in the Guardian, Gordon expressed his hope that he “would dearly love to have just one crossword published in the Guardian”. He did not have to wait too long for this wish to be fulfilled, for within a year he had already seen two of his crosswords in print in the newspaper. He continued to compile regularly for this series thereafter.
Gordon’s quiet and unassuming personality was greatly appreciated and loved by all those who knew him. His extensive general knowledge was freely dispensed in challenging quizzes – just as his “Word Puzzles” exemplify. He was an avid gardener, an ardent cricket fan and loving father and grandfather. His wife Celia died in 2008 and he leaves two daughters, Joanna and Tessa, and four grandchildren, Barney, Florence, Oscar and May. His son Tom predeceased him.
I feel awful. Very sad.
Sad news. Very sorry to hear it.
Sad news indeed, and a lovely tribute – thanks Tom
Very sad news – RIP Otterden.
I’m sorry to hear of Otterden’s death.
A very fine tribute
A really lovely chap, one of the original cast of Budock Vean, I’m sure a glass or two will be raised to him in both Derby and York. Cheers Gordon.
Thanks so much Tom. A wonderful tribute to a kind and generous man (and an assiduous correspondent).
This is awful news. We are all diminished by the loss.
RIP
Sad news. A brilliant compiler – I’ll miss his puzzles greatly…a little wry smile appeared every time I saw his name below the grid: you knew you were in for a treat…
Rest peacefully Gordon.
Sad news. I discovered his work only recently through his Guardian puzzles, which I greatly enjoyed.
Sad news – lovely tribute from Tom.
More sad news. Nice tribute Tom.
Was quite a shock to see the headline and a mix of sadness and appreciation of a fine life to read this fitting eulogy to a man that I’d only known through the banner of his crosswords in the Guardian. Always felt in the minority when defending his quirky yet unique style on these pages – always enjoyed his puzzles and will savour the one or two of his that I have left in my back pile. I will miss his work and pass my sympathy and best wishes to his family.
Vale from across the oceans, Gordon …
Many thanks Tom for the lovely eulogy for Dad.
Lovely to see the enjoyment he gave to others – Dad would have been very pleased.
I was saddened to hear the news of Otterden’s death this week. I was lucky enough to meet Gordon in Cornwall a few years ago and subsequently to tackle a good few of his quizzes and puzzles.
Many thanks for the tribute, Tom, and for shedding some light on Gordon’s life away from crosswords, about which I knew very little.
May he rest in peace.
How sad.
I very much enjoyed his Guardian puzzles.
Lovely tribute.
Very sad news. I have known Gordon Holt via email since 2012 when he first contributed an article for my blog. A really down-to-earth, generous person, with so much knowledge to share. Rest in peace Gordon.
Gordon was a truly lovely man. I met him at Budock Vean, and have corresponded with him a bit since. He will be missed.
Thanks for the tribute, Tom. I shall miss Gordon. Since I first met him at Budock Vean a few years ago we have been in regular touch about crosswords. He became my checker when I started compiling for the FT (as Magwitch) and I checked his puzzles for the Guardian. We had quite different clueing styles but I really liked the imaginative definitions which Gordon would come up with. He seemed to me always to be trying to push the boundaries – he was certainly not a Ximenean. I have a copy of the compiling manual which Gordon put together and I refer to it regularly. It will be a continuing reminder of him. May he rest in peace.
A sad loss. My condolences to his family and thank you to Tom for the lovely eulogy.
Indeed, we shall miss Gordon. He was such a modest and unassuming presence at Budock Vean and a mine of information and knowledge. Like Magwitch, I have a copy of his excellent compiling manual – the best of them all, I think. It is a shame it has not been published. We enjoyed the way he was attempting to push the boundaries and cock a snook at Ximeneanism in his compilations. Our thoughts are with his family. Many thanks, Tom, for that sensitive eulogy.
This is sad news. he did provide many an enjoyable moment .. RIP
Very sad, I started doing the New Statesman crosswords around 2009 and there were some great ones, themed ones especially.
Is there any way we could have the Otterden NS puzzles published on a site like this one? There must be a lot of good ones I missed out on and would love to do.
Very sad. I had no idea Otterden was ill. I very much enjoyed his Guardian puzzles, they were a breath of fresh air. He was not afraid to ignore convention and go his own way.