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 6776/Phi

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An unusually easy Phi today, it seemed, apart from one or two that I can’t explain properly. Rather more full anagrams than one might expect. Across 7 FORE N SIC – ‘for courts’ … Read more >>

Independent 6762/Dac

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The usual impressive offering from Dac, full of simply-constructed but very satisfactory clues. One or two I can’t quite explain, and one or two words that were new to me. Across 1 S … Read more >>

Independent 6755/Merlin

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A very pleasant crosword from Merlin – several nice clues. I didn’t find him so difficult as usual. Across 1 NAPS – (span)rev. 3 TOUCH-ME-NOT? – this seems to be the only plant that fits, … Read more >>

Independent 6743/Dac

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What’s Dac doing on a Tuesday? Something’s afoot. Oh yes, today must be special – look at the outer unches – in which case many congratulations. A typical Dac, as usual excellent, but there were one … Read more >>

Independent 6738/Dac

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Dac’s typically good offering, but, unusually, one or two clues about which I am a bit doubtful. Across 1 CASABLANCA – ca s(ailing) a B (canal)* 6 SWOP – (POWS)rev. 9 LEGI(R)ON. I know … Read more >>

Azed 1875

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Azed produces these nice puzzles from time to time, although this is the first of this type I’ve seen: usually the anchor-word is vertical at the left and the two grid patterns are … Read more >>

Independent 6728

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All but three or four seemed to be the usual pleasant accessible Phi crossword, but then I became totally stuck on 11dn, 21dn perhaps, 22dn perhaps and 25ac, and eventually I had to use various … Read more >>

Independent 6720/Dac

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Although there are one or two I’m not sure about, this was not one of Dac’s most difficult. Which doesn’t prevent it from being well up to his usual standard. Is there some … Read more >>