John

Born 1946. Since retiring (maths teacher) have spent an increasing amount of time on crosswords, something that was impossible before – am not in the sub-ten minutes league and probably never will be. Do The Times every day (more often than not in over half an hour), also an assortment of other puzzles. Have been doing Azed monthly for some years and entering his clue-setting competitions, occasionally with some success (I even won once, have had 36 VHCs and 138 HCs — yes, I keep a record, sad isn't it) but not enough for my liking. I've set a few crosswords: five in Oxford Today, a few on Derek Harrison's website, and five in The Independent, under the name Vernon. Also play a lot of chess and golf, although as I age I'm getting weaker at both.

Everyman 4,128

December 7, 2025 at 12:23 am by John

Since Everyman is in general so Ximenean I’m surprised that he allows the grid to contain two entries with less than 50% checking. But they’re long ones and perhaps it’s not really that important. The crossword as a whole was mostly very satisfactory, with the usual characteristics, which are highlighted in the grid, until I came to a little group (described below) where I found it hard to finish. I have done, but hope I’ll be told how these clues really work, for I’m not convinced.

Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (homophone, hidden, containment, anagram, juxtaposition, etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in green.

Gemelo No. 15 – it could be verse

November 23, 2025 at 12:21 pmNovember 23, 2025 at 12:28 am by John

A nice crossword from Gemelo but probably not one of his most difficult. The construction is often quite simple and one just has to see it.

He has made a rod for his back by having the clues written in iambic pentameter with an ABAB rhyme scheme. This is very clever and must have made it quite difficult for him, but I can’t see the point. The solver is in just the same position as normal; all the extra difficulty is with the setter: one can admire his ingenuity but doesn’t have to do anything special.

Definitions underlined, in crimson. Anagram indicators indicated (like this)*.

Everyman 4,124

November 9, 2025 at 6:27 pmNovember 9, 2025 at 12:38 am by John

I thought this was good but on the hard side for an Everyman and some clues held me up for quite a while. There are the usual Everyman extras which are highlighted in the grid. Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (homophone, hidden, containment, anagram, juxtaposition, etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in olive.

Everyman 4,120

October 12, 2025 at 12:44 am by John

A pleasant Everyman this week.

Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (homophone, hidden, containment, anagram, juxtaposition, etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in green.

Azed No. 2,771 plain – competition puzzle

October 12, 2025 at 12:38 am by John

A slightly odd grid in that there are the usual straddling 12-letter answers and sixteen 4-letter ones. But this apart we have a perfectly pleasant crossword with many of the usual nice clues. Sometimes Azed has just relied for difficulty on strange words, it being fairly obvious what is happening in the wordplay, but he is also as one would expect clever from time to time.

Definitions underlined, in crimson. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*.

Everyman 4,116

September 14, 2025 at 12:10 am by John

A pleasant crossword and all as usual nowadays: the self-referential clue, the first letters clue, the rhyming pair (pairs this time, at a stretch 6ac and 17ac, but I haven’t coloured them), all of which are coloured.

Definitions underlined in crimson. Indicators (homophones, reversal, letter deletion, etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated (like this)* or *(like this). Link-words in green.

Gemelo No. 6 – plain

August 31, 2025 at 12:26 am by John

Gemelo has settled nicely into his slot. I enjoyed this. No major criticisms and good surfaces, everything sound so far as I can see.

Definitions underlined, in crimson. anagram indicators in italics.

Everyman 4,112

August 17, 2025 at 12:33 pmAugust 17, 2025 at 12:41 am by John

It seems that Everyman is now closer to producing the sort of pleasant sound straightforward crossword that we used to see in the Everyman slot and which had seemed to be things of the past.

Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (anagram, homophone, juxtaposition, reversal, etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in green,

Gemelo No. 1

July 20, 2025 at 12:26 pmJuly 20, 2025 at 12:58 am by John

I have the honour of blogging Gemelo’s first puzzle in The Observer, and very nice it is too: fairly similar in difficulty to Azed and the clues are so far as I can see sound, with pleasantly convincing surfaces. The only apparent difference from Azed is that two of the answers have all their letters checked, something I don’t remember from Azed.

Definitions in crimson, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*.

Everyman 4,108

July 20, 2025 at 1:53 pmJuly 20, 2025 at 12:30 am by John

A nice crossword from Everyman with all the usual features, which have been coloured. I imagine poor old Everyman every week thinking “what’s a long word or phrase which has the same number of letters as another one and rhymes or has some other connection with it?” and to manage to find a suitable pair is quite impressive. Many thanks to a friend of mine who explained two where I was lost.

Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (homophone, anagram, hidden, reversal, etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated (like this)* or *(like this). Link-words — and there aren’t many of them, a sign of good setting — in green.

Everyman 4,104

June 22, 2025 at 11:05 pmJune 22, 2025 at 12:47 am by John

I thought this was rather harder than usual, but perhaps that was because I was having dreadful trouble with my mouse. The blog took longer than it usually does. The usual rhyming pair, the self-referential clue and the ‘primarily’ clue are all as usual and coloured in the diagram. Some nice clues, one or two that I don’t understand, and one or two mild criticisms.

Definitions in italics, underlined in crimson. Indicators (homophone, reversal, anagram, missing letter, etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in green.

Azed No. 2,763 plain – competition puzzle

June 8, 2025 at 12:42 am by John

The usual pleasant crossword from Azed. I have one or two slight questions about things but no doubt they will be explained.

Definitions in italics, underlined in crimson. Anagram indicators in italics.

Everyman 4,100

May 25, 2025 at 12:57 am by John

A pleasant crossword this week from Everyman. No great problems and any (only very occasional and slight) grumble is mentioned in the blog. Nearly 30% of the answers are four-letter words, which are often (but not in this case) tricky; not perhaps the best of grids.

Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (homophones, of which there were more than usual, reversals, anagrams, first letters, juxtapositions, etc.) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in green.

Azed No. 2,757 plain

April 27, 2025 at 12:50 am by John

This will be the last Azed for The Observer under present management, a plain that is probably on the easier side. Let’s hope that his crosswords can continue in their present form.

Definitions underlined in crimson. Anagram indicators in italics.

Everyman crossword No 4,096

April 27, 2025 at 12:39 am by John

I think this is one of Everyman’s better efforts. There are some very nice clues and the surfaces (except for one of them, which I grumble about in the blog) are on the whole tight and sensible.

Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (homophones, juxtaposition, missing letters, reversals, anagrams, etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in green.