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.

Independent 7661/Raich

May 6, 2011 at 11:44 am by John

The usual good puzzle from Raich. I found it a bit harder than usual, but no doubt that was because of my failure to recognise the theme, and the long answer in the … Read more >>

Azed 2030

May 1, 2011 at 12:02 am by John

The usual utterly sound and satisfactory puzzle from Azed. Across 1 FIREPLUG — discharging = fire, bolt = gulp, which reversed is plug. A fireplug is a hydrant: one is misled by the … Read more >>

Independent 7652/Anax

April 26, 2011 at 11:10 am by John

Poor old Anax keeps on getting me at the moment. This wasn’t nearly so hard as his offering last week; the theme, which became clear when the long clue at 16ac was solved, … Read more >>

Independent 7647/Dac

April 20, 2011 at 1:37 am by John

As elegant an offering from Dac as I can remember. The surfaces are uniformly excellent and all make good sense, and there is nothing at all that I can see as being remotely … Read more >>

Independent 7642/Anax

April 14, 2011 at 3:20 am by John

Solving time : Absolutely ages. There was a time when I went eagerly to Anax’s crosswords but recently they seem to have been becoming so impossibly difficult that I tend not to do … Read more >>

Independent 7628/Math

March 29, 2011 at 11:28 am by John

A good crossword today from Math, themed about something that is mentioned after a polite gap. This is to do with the book Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie. I am not that familiar … Read more >>

Independent 7623/Dac

March 23, 2011 at 10:22 am by John

Nothing special from Dac today. Normally when one says this one means that it is mediocre, with nothing remarkably good about it. In this case it simply means that the crossword is well up … Read more >>

Azed 2024

March 20, 2011 at 12:02 am by John

As always of course, a very good crossword from Azed. Some of the clues (1ac and 1dn particularly) are marvellous and everything is sound and well-signposted. My solving performance is rather feeble: I … Read more >>

Independent 7618/Anax

March 17, 2011 at 1:43 am by John

A breathtaking achievement from Anax. The vast majority of the clues have a surface that refers to the same thing, yet there is no strain and they all work quite naturally. This kind … Read more >>

Independent 7613/Phi

March 11, 2011 at 1:18 am by John

As usual a nice tidy crossword from Phi. So good in fact that there is really very little to say, a sign of quality. Now that I’ve said that there is no doubt plenty … Read more >>

Independent 7604/Raich

March 1, 2011 at 10:33 pmMarch 1, 2011 at 9:53 am by John

A very pleasant crossword from Raich today. It took a while to get started because of all those clues that refer to some other clue, and none of the Across clues fell at … Read more >>

Independent 7599 / Dac

February 23, 2011 at 10:49 am by John

The usual smoothly-operating crossword from Dac today. Just when you think the great man has slipped you find that in fact he hasn’t and that you’re the one who is at fault. For … Read more >>

Independent 7594/Dac

February 18, 2011 at 12:43 amFebruary 17, 2011 at 1:50 am by John

After what seems to have been a succession of highly complicated and clever crosswords recently, it’s quite nice to get back to something vanilla. But what vanilla. The very best you can get. … Read more >>

Independent 7589/Phi

February 11, 2011 at 11:17 am by John

As always with Phi, a good crossword with no apparent weaknesses, all the clues utterly sound and satisfactory. No particular clue stood out for me, but that is often the case with Phi: … Read more >>

Azed 2018

February 6, 2011 at 12:02 am by John

Azed’s Plains are usually done at one sitting, even though that sitting can be very long indeed. This time. however, there were several clues that gave me trouble, both in getting them in … Read more >>