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 6579/Phi – the usual Phi standard

October 26, 2008 at 8:13 pmNovember 16, 2007 at 11:55 am by John

Solving time : 35 minutes. As he does every week, Phi manages to produce a crossword that is full of clever stuff with which it’s apparently almost impossible to find fault. Across 1 MOP IS … Read more >>

FT 12609/Cinephile

October 26, 2008 at 8:14 pmNovember 7, 2007 at 12:44 pm by John

Solving time : Not sure because I got my stopwatch wrong, but it was quite long before I understood everything and even now I’m not sure about one or two. Cinephile’s crosswords tend … Read more >>

Guardian Friday 2.11.07/Chifonie

October 26, 2008 at 8:15 pmNovember 2, 2007 at 11:28 am by John

Solving time : 22 minutes. This is a fairly quick time for me, which is probably why I quite enjoyed this. I wonder about some of the assessments under the tab “Setters” above. Tees the … Read more >>

Independent 6560/Scorpion – Thursday 25 October 2007

October 26, 2007 at 1:39 pmOctober 25, 2007 at 12:40 pm by John

Solving time : well over an hour. Lots of difficult clues, as one would expect with Scorpion, but some lovely ones and most of them could eventually be explained. I think. Across 1 … Read more >>

FT 12591/Cinephile – Wed 17.10.07

November 27, 2020 at 12:30 pmOctober 17, 2007 at 12:01 pm by John

Solving time : About three-quarters of an hour, but meaningless anyway since I got 12A wrong, as I discovered later when trying to justify LIRE. The theme is Evelyn Waugh’s magnificent novel Scoop. … Read more >>

Guardian 24204/Paul (Wednesday 10 Oct)

October 26, 2008 at 8:17 pmOctober 10, 2007 at 12:07 pm by John

Solving time : 54 minutes, with one or two not understood and a little bit of reference book and electronic nudging towards the end. I’m not very familiar with Paul, since I avoid … Read more >>

Indy 6543/Phi

October 5, 2007 at 4:10 pmOctober 5, 2007 at 12:39 pm by John

Solving time: 22 mins 38 secs. I’m sure there’s a Nina there somewhere, there being all those “loose ends” round the outside, and much of the bottom line saying FOOLS, but I can’t … Read more >>

FT 12573/Cinephile

October 26, 2008 at 8:17 pmSeptember 26, 2007 at 12:25 pm by John

Solving time :32 mins 59 secs. Thank goodness this wasn’t one of Cinephile’s really difficult ones. As always with Cinephile, one or two clues that stretch a pedantic Ximenean, but nevertheless lots of … Read more >>