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 3,984

March 5, 2023 at 12:42 am by John

A good crossword from Everyman, not quite so easy as last week’s I found, but not too bad. It looks to me as if he has given up on the alliterative clues (remarkably clever while they lasted, but one must run out of such things) — the grid has very little colour in it — and instead has disciplined himself to having whole-word anagrams; or at any rate a large proportion of them. It’s hard enough to fill a grid and set a crossword without all these extra restrictions (the ‘primarily’ clue, the self-reference, now this anagram thing, and no doubt more that I haven’t noticed) that he imposes on himself.

Definitions underlined, in crimson. Anagram indicators shown like this *(anagram) or (anagram)*, indicators (homophone, reversal, anagram, juxtaposition etc) in italics, link-words in green.

Azed No. 2,643 Plain

February 21, 2023 at 12:15 am by John

How Azed manages to produce these grids is a source of amazement. I think he does it all by hand in an exercise book, and doesn’t call upon electronic help. We have three eleven-letter answers from top to bottom, and nothing seems to be strained (although perhaps caa’s was a bit of a stretch). There are one or two places where I’m not quite sure; no doubt all will be explained.

Definitions in crimson, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.

Everyman 3,980

March 18, 2023 at 10:09 amFebruary 5, 2023 at 12:24 am by John

Everything fits together very neatly in this, the getting-better-by-the-week Everyman, and judging from the time I took to solve it he is getting the standard more like that in the old days. Only one or two clues leave me feeling something is wrong, and quite possibly that’s my own fault.

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

Azed No. 2,637 Plain – Competition Puzzle

January 10, 2023 at 12:20 am by John

Apart from the problem (so far as I can see) with 29dn, this is a good example of the elegant clueing that we have come to associate with Azed. I sometimes grumble about his surfaces (what does 20ac for example actually mean?), but he does produce these things week after week, not to say a whole lot of clue-judging and regular specials, and he generally does try hard to get decent surfaces; there are as always some lovely clues (like 30ac and 27dn).

Definitions underlined in crimson. Anagram indicators in italics.

Everyman 3,976

January 8, 2023 at 12:25 am by John

Have you noticed that Everyman crosswords are always of 28 letters? So far as I can see, anyway. Why should the setter slave away for those extra few clues? Not that it matters. The standard is good, as it has been becoming for a while; good surfaces (apart from 15ac, 7dn and 19dn I think) and sound clueing, with the usual constraints of the first letters clue, the self-referential clue, and the alliterative clues. Actually I can’t see any of the last here — it looks as if Everyman has deviated from the norm and has included two long answers of two words, with the same first word.

Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (anagram, homophone, reversal, etc. in italics). Link-words in green.

Everyman 3,973

December 11, 2022 at 11:11 amDecember 11, 2022 at 12:46 am by John

Everyman gets better and better. There are very few clues here that are odd, although perhaps the surfaces to 1ac, 19ac and 21dn are a bit thin. I’m afraid I need a bit of help with 13dn. We have the usual self-referential clue (just), the first letters clue, and the rhyming couplet (also something else that I can’t remember. No doubt it will be pointed out). Quite a restriction for Everyman to impose on himself.

You may have missed this, where Everyman is outed.

Definitions underlined in crimson. Indicators (homophone, hidden, anagram etc.) in italics. Link-words in green.

Azed No. 2,632 Plain

November 29, 2022 at 11:34 amNovember 29, 2022 at 12:35 am by John

A nice plain from Azed with the usual sound clues. In one or two places I’m a bit doubtful but that’s very possibly me. In his latest slip he mentions that some people find the 11×13 grid (as here) often a bit easier to solve that the usual 12×12.

I used to blog Azed’s crosswords some years ago and seem to remember making the same remark then: the actual wordplay is usually fairly simple; the difficulty lies in the extraordinary words, which I have usually not explained.

Definitions underlined in crimson. Anagram indicators in italics.

Everyman 3,969

November 13, 2022 at 12:52 pmNovember 13, 2022 at 12:40 am by John

I haven’t been very efficient this time, since there are two clues that leave me bewildered. However, I’m sure that some of the many people who read this blog will help. Otherwise it’s quite a satisfactory Everyman with the usuals (self-reference, first letters, rhyming answers (PACIFIC OCEAN, LAWS OF MOTION), and no doubt other things that I’ve missed). In only one or two cases I’m a bit unhappy with the clues.

Definitions underlined, in crimson. Indicators (anagram, homophone, hidden, first letters, etc) in italics. Anagram indicators indicated like *(this) or (this)*. Link-words in green.

Everyman 3,965

October 16, 2022 at 11:49 amOctober 16, 2022 at 12:31 am by John

Everyman sets him/herself several tasks over and above those of the usual setter of a cryptic: the self-referential clue, the first letters clue, the rhyming answers (like BAKEWELL TART and CROSS MY HEART) and no doubt others and almost always does pretty well at this. The standard of the actual clues is the main thing, and they are sound so far as I can see. One or two of the surfaces are a bit lame, though — for example ‘nag a swimmer’ — what does that mean beyond the obvious?

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

Everyman 3,961

September 18, 2022 at 12:48 pmSeptember 18, 2022 at 1:08 am by John

Although initially you might think otherwise (by chance the two clues I have doubts about are the first two) my opinion of this crossword tallies with the general feeling about these crosswords over the past year or so: they are getting better and better and the clues are on the whole pleasant and sound. I can’t see the alliterative pair, but am not in the habit of looking for it and no doubt someone will point it out.

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

Everyman 3,957

August 21, 2022 at 12:50 pmAugust 21, 2022 at 12:35 am by John

Nothing remarkable to be said: a very satisfactory Everyman of about the right level of difficulty, with the usual things we are now used to finding in this crossword.

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

Everyman 3,953

July 24, 2022 at 12:14 pmJuly 24, 2022 at 12:55 am by John

One or two that I’m not quite sure about, but no doubt that is me and you will probably put me right. Otherwise this was a good illustration of what we all must hope The Everyman has become: sound clues, the right level of difficulty, and some nice wittiness.

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

Everyman 3,949

June 26, 2022 at 12:51 am by John

Not a bad example of the new Everyman, with some quite good clues. My criticisms are more often of the ‘Well I wouldn’t do it that way if I was writing a clue for this word’ type than of the ‘This is quite appalling’ type.

Definitions underlined in crimson. Indicators (anagram, homophone, hidden etc.) in italics. Link-words in green.

Everyman 3,945

May 29, 2022 at 12:42 am by John

A pleasant crossword from Everyman. There were several anagrams — no bad thing in a crossword that’s intended to be on the easy side, but some of the fodder was a bit tortuous and didn’t really lend itself to elegant surfaces. I often didn’t get them until I had plenty of crossers.

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

Everyman 3,941

May 1, 2022 at 3:23 pmMay 1, 2022 at 12:49 am by John

For much of this crossword I was thinking how pleasant it was, but towards the end some of the clues seemed to become rather tortuous. Who knows if I’ve actually got it right — I may be barking up the wrong tree — but there were some clues that I’m a bit doubtful about. Which will encourage the poster a few months ago to mention my crabbiness. Sorry — I’m hard to please!

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