Crossword Unclued

First Look At The Firstpost Crossword

2012-05-13T09:12:00.001+05:30

Firstpost.com has introduced a new daily cryptic crossword: http://www.firstpost.com/crossword.html. A first look at their offering – the good and the bad.

The Good

Interactive grid with timer: No other major news website in India provides interactive solving AFAIK. Great to see this on firstpost.

Prominent display: An eye-catching banner on the homepage sidebar.

Topical India-centric subject matter:

12a, 13a: Aye, majesty, a vat is broken for big show (8,6)
4a: More than a celebrity hosting 12,13a (4,4)

I like the idea of grid fills based on hot topics in the news. It'll probably attract more solvers who don't attempt cryptic crosswords otherwise.

The Bad

The Clues

Many clue surfaces are weak, the wordplay dodgy.

[Screenshot from firstpost Crossword no. 2, 11th May 2012]

Assuming the setter of the Firstpost crossword is new to setting, giving here detailed feedback for some clues from Crossword#2 – hope his helps:

1a: Fixed inside a vegetable for foreign money (6) PESETA
SET (fixed) inside PEA (vegetable)
A good clue should read like a natural phrase/sentence when you take it outside the context of a crossword. This one does not. For more on good and bad clue surfaces, have a look at Surface Reading, Cryptic Reading.

9a: Listen to polish coming out of organ (3,3) EAR WAX
EAR (listen) WAX (polish); defn = coming out of organ.
Other than the weak surface, there are grammatical issues here.
listen = give EAR, not EAR.
The definition 'coming out of organ' does not match EAR WAX.

To verify that the wordplay is accurate, try the substitution test. A sentence containing the answer should be unaltered in grammar and meaning when the answer is replaced with its definition.

Can you construct a sentence in which 'listen' can be replaced with EAR, 'coming out of organ' replaced with EAR WAX? If you can't, your wordplay needs a change. Have a look at What's wrong with this clue? for a less obvious example of a similar error.

23d: Deserters rise for ruler (4) TSAR
RATS (deserters) reversed
RATS reversed is STAR, not TSAR.

Things to remember

The right of the grid has this curiously detailed set of instructions:

The first two instructions seem to be meant for a person who has never seen a crossword clue before and needs to be told with an example that seven = 7. If that is the target audience of this puzzle then they will require a lot more than this set of instructions to be able to solve the crossword.

Related Posts:

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Q&A With Six New Hindu Crossword Setters: Part II

2012-05-10T02:59:00.001+05:30

In the first instalment of Q&A With Six New Hindu Crossword Setters, our setters gave us fascinating glimpses into their approach to crossword setting - their tools, the time they spend crafting each puzzle, what they find hardest and what they like best about creating crosswords.

It was lovely to see the response to Part I of the Q&A. The post has become one of the top shared articles on Crossword Unclued. Thank you for all the tweets, likes, bookmarks and stumbles.

Here comes what you've been waiting for – the second half of the Q&A with Arden, Cryptonyte, Buzzer, Mover, Scintillator and Textrous.

Q7: Do you participate in online discussions about your puzzles?

Arden: No. Once my puzzle is out in the public domain, it is for the solvers to air their opinion. I leave it to them and try to learn from my mistakes.

Cryptonyte: Not too much, only if I feel that my cryptic grammar has been completely misunderstood. I feel discussions about the published clues are highly subjective and it's best to let the solvers' community enjoy it the way they see it.

Scintillator: I do, but I rue the absence of a huge or a diverse online crossword community in India.

Buzzer: Yes. It is hard enough to get any feedback before publication so why would I keep away from the very few who have something to say about my clues.

Mover: I do not participate in online discussions about my own puzzles. As I am using a pseudonym as a setter, I do not feel comfortable about participating in discussions about my puzzles pseudonymously/anonymously.

Textrous: Not yet, but I am not averse to it.

Q8: Which crosswords do you solve?

Arden: The Guardian daily cryptic and the weekly prize crossword.

Cryptonyte: This is a little embarrassing – I do not solve any crossword regularly at the moment. But I used to solve The Daily Mail and The Hindu crosswords.

Scintillator: Not much these days, rarely I spend a relaxed Friday afternoon with the day's Guardian or FT.

Buzzer: Daily - THC, HT, FT, The Guardian and USA Today;
Occasionally - Independent, Times;
Whenever they appear - Mint, CrOZworld.

Mover: Rufus's puzzles in the New Indian Express regularly; The Times crosswords and puzzles by Araucaria in The Guardian, occasionally.

Textrous: The Guardian and occasionally FT.

Q9: Favourite setters:

Arden: Araucaria, Paul, Rufus, Boatman...et al.

Cryptonyte: From the limited number of crosswords I've solved – Anax, Textrous and Spiffytrix.

Scintillator: John Halpern, Don Manley, Neil Shepherd and Dean Mayer - setters characterised by extraordinarily clever and perfectly fair clues. In THC, Spiffytrix was very impressive as long as he was there. (Come back soon, buddy!)

Buzzer: There are several whose clues I take pleasure in unravelling. Anax with his ingenious wordplay is one. Boatman's puzzles are hugely rewarding. But for the great skill of keeping things simple in puzzle after puzzle, year after year, I admire Sankalak and Rufus the most.

Mover: Rufus and Araucaria.

Textrous: Anax, Rufus.

Q10: Crossword-solving aids are ...

Arden: ...not for me. If people use them to solve crosswords, it is their business.

Cryptonyte: ...to be used only when you've exhausted all possible angles of looking at a clue. They sometimes cannot be done without and have to be used to prevent excessive hair loss.

Scintillator: ...fine, as long as you use them for anagrams and not for text search patterns.

Buzzer: ...there for those who want to use them. If you look at crossword solving as an examination, then they might seem like cheating tools. If all you are after is how answers are derived, it doesn’t matter if you use a tool or ask a friend or look it up in a blog or press the cheat button.

Mover: I have no issues with solvers using crossword-solving aids for completing puzzles. I do not normally use aids while solving. I use the internet to confirm a solution and to get background information relating to the clue solution.

Textrous: Don't use any. I look up Fifteensquared for clues I don't get.

Q11: Crossword-setting rules are ...

Arden: ...a way of trying to be fair. (Presently there seems to be a gap between trying to be fair and being fair, but one keeps trying...)

Cryptonyte: ...what makes cryptic crosswords so enjoyable – because the solver has a fair chance to get to the answer and the setter has a good chance to entertain. The reason I stopped attempting things like Klueless is because there are no rules and it became very random and groan-inducing.

Scintillator: ...welcome, as they bring orderliness to an esoteric trade.

Buzzer: ...too many :) some are good to know, some good to follow, and the rest good to ignore.

Mover: ...only means to an end and not to be considered as writ in stone.

Textrous: ...excellent guidelines to follow, especially when one is starting out as a setter. But over time, one evolves one's own style, and this may entail the occasional bending or relaxation of a rule, albeit without overly impacting the clues' fairness.

Q12: One thing you wish to change about the way you set crosswords:

Arden: Spend more time on the clues – overcome the lack of doggedness in me to keep my nose to the grinding wheel till I get it just right.

Cryptonyte: The last minute rush. I think I could do a lot better if I set a few clues every day instead of finishing them off at the eleventh hour.

Scintillator: The way itself: if I had more time, I would love to forsake all software resources and return to the simple pencil-and-paper mode of setting. It is tough to do thematics that way, but I am sure it will certainly bring a charming simplicity to the clues and the puzzle.

Buzzer: I feel I tend to be too brief with my definitions. They might be correct in the dictionary sense, but of not enough help for a solver.

Mover: Nothing really. Maybe use fewer anagrams :).

Textrous: I hope to be able to throw in more CDs, DDs and Composite Anagrams than I do.

Q13: Favourite clue of your own:

Arden: I have no favourites.

Cryptonyte:
Clean without water (4)
A tower which leads ships? (7) [CD]

Scintillator: Just one? That's unfair! I have a few here...

When bud gets new life (10) [semi &lit]
One could be a Java expert (7) [CD]
Foremost thing arranged for newly-weds? (5,5) [semi &lit]
You’re very perverse and I'm no less (6) [anag]

Buzzer: Keeps changing, but for the time being:

ABCDEF are set in bold (9)

Mover:
Are transvestites angry with furniture items? (5-8)

Textrous:
Flying pigs off cue here? On the contrary (6,2,6) [anag semi-&lit]

[Answers available here. - Shuchi]

Q14: What is more important - a great surface or flawless cryptic grammar?

Arden: A great surface.

Cryptonyte: A great surface. The primary job of the setter is to entertain his solvers and he must try his best to give the solver a fair chance to solve the clue. This is why the balance becomes critical – because the solver is entertained only if he gets the answer or when he sees it, is able to think that he had a fair chance.

Mover: I prefer a great surface.

Textrous: A great surface.

Buzzer: As a solver I want both (managed to insert that answer you didn't want to hear :-) ). But as a setter I'm happy to sacrifice the grammar for surface (that statement might come handy defending future clues...or the ones like I mentioned above as my current favourite).

Scintillator: Flawless cryptic grammar. A cricketing analogy will be splendid shots versus solid technique. A player with a solid technique will play splendid shots once in a while. People who play splendid shots without having a proper technique lose their way (or interest) in the game in due course of time. Moreover, 'great surface' is an ideal concept. 30 great surfaces can win you 30 clue-writing competitions, but may not group together to form one brilliant puzzle. You need to mix and match between great, good and easy clues in a daily puzzle.

Q15: Should The Hindu have a crossword editor?

Arden: Yes, and enough has been said about this. It is for the people at The Hindu to do something about it. The sad truth is that the crosswords per se do not figure high in the list of priorities among the Indian dailies. For many it is just a space-filling exercise.

Cryptonyte: I've never really worked with a crossword editor per se, but the clues I set on The I-do-it Box with Vinod were more refined because it passed through the Vinod filter (and Vinod's clues through mine) before they got published. It certainly helps, but we can live without an editor as well.

Scintillator: Absolutely yes, as basic grammatical and phonetic flaws often crop up in the puzzles. The feature needs someone to choose the right puzzles to publish and also time them appropriately. No one wants to solve a toughie on a Monday morning (personal experience!) or a glut of amateur puzzles full of bland, software-generated anagrams or clues plumbing deplorable depths under the pretext of libertarianism. There is a lot of scope and responsibility for that to-be editor. If THC's to attain the high levels of standard set by British dailies, then having an editor is a good place to begin with.

Buzzer: Should The Hindu have one?
Yes.

Will it have one?
Given the indifference with which the online puzzle is treated - no direct link on the main page unlike Sudoku, no space between clue numbers and clue text, previous day solutions are titled "related photos" – I could go on but the point is, if there is no intent to address such minor issues, talking about a crossword editor is moot.

Mover: Mixed feelings about this one. A really good editor would be nice but a mediocre or opinionated editor may not be a great idea.

Textrous: If I understand it correctly, they already have a "listings editor" who is kind enough to go through enumerations, consistency between clues and solutions etc. But yes, it would certainly help to have someone dedicated to vetting our crosswords.

Q16: When you are not creating crosswords, you are...

Arden: ...busy with other things. There is always something to do.

Buzzer: ...surfing, snorkeling, sailing, paragliding, preparing for my helicopter license...no that didn't come out right :)

Out trekking or bushwalking or at badminton/tennis/golf depending on the day of the week.

Cryptonyte: ...doing all sorts of things – I just finished my MBA from IIM Kozhikode and will be joining TAS shortly. I used to tweet and blog a bit, I like reading humour, love sports and at the moment I'm looking forward to a nice honeymoon.

Scintillator: ...playing other roles in life: the fraction of time I spend on crosswords is very minimal.

Mover: ...a senior bureaucrat belonging to the Indian Administrative Service. My other passion is playing Scrabble. I was the national Scrabble Champion for several years and was the first Indian to represent India in the World Scrabble Championship Tournament in 1999 in Melbourne. Since then I have been on the Indian WSC team in 2001 and 2007.

My other interests include wildlife and nature photography. I recently published a book Nature Rambles dealing with urban biodiversity.

Textrous: ...heading a software development team, singing, playing the harmonica, doodling caricatures, helping the missus with the cooking and most of all, playing with my daughter.

---
Hope you all enjoyed the interviews. Though I had read the answers before individually, putting the post together with six different perspectives laid out alongside was like seeing them with new eyes. Diversity, such a wonderful thing!

Many thanks to Arden, Buzzer, Cryptonyte, Mover, Scintillator and Textrous.

Have a go at the setters' favourite clues (Q13). Do post your answers and your thoughts in the comments section.

Related Posts:

Q&A With Six New Hindu Crossword Setters: Part I

2012-05-08T09:18:00.000+05:30

The last two years have seen major overhauls in the setting team of The Hindu. The controversial setters Nitaa Jaggi and M Manna stopped contributing, several new setters were empanelled whose puzzles now appear once or twice a month. We're still getting a feel of their individual styles – Arden's affinity for the smooth clue surface, Scintillator's fiendishness, Mover's and Textrous's penchant for the anagram…

The new setters come from different backgrounds and age groups but they have something in common – almost all have been solvers/hobbyist setters so far and are new to setting cryptic crosswords professionally. I thought it would be very interesting to know how they look at the same aspects of their craft. If we get a peek into their crossword setting methods, tastes and philosophies, will we discover uncanny similarities or surprising differences?

And so I put to six new setters of The Hindu Crossword the same set of questions. Presenting for you their answers in a two-part series.

I thank Arden, Buzzer, Cryptonyte, Mover, Scintillator and Textrous for their enthusiastic participation.

Over to the Q&A.

Q1: The best thing about being a crossword setter:

Arden: Is that you are learning all the time.

Cryptonyte: Custom made proposal ;) Seriously, a large audience to present your clues to and get feedback from.

Scintillator: The pay. Oh no, just kidding! For me it is the exposure to the dictionary; I get to learn many words, idioms, phrases and etymologies which would otherwise take a lifetime of book-reading and more.

Buzzer: Some people think you are smarter than you actually are.

Mover: Am still captivated by the mystical process of producing a filled grid and cluing to ultimately create an enjoyable puzzle. I find the unspoken communication between the solvers and the setter somewhat magical.

Textrous: The immense satisfaction of solvers confessing their "aha moment" after getting one of your clues.

Q2: Your crossword-setting tools:

Arden: Crossword Compiler, Oxford dictionary, Bradford's Crossword Solver's dictionary.

Cryptonyte: I use a very basic crossword compiler from Spoonbill software for grid fills (in the beginning I used MS Excel and oneacross.com :) and rely on Wordweb basic and dictionary.com for definitions. Occasionally I use the internet anagram server for anagrams.

Mover: For setting, I use Crossword Compiler. For reference, my favourites are Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary and the Collins Scrabble Dictionary.

Scintillator: I will rather keep mum about the software lest someone should ask my keys. I use Oxford dictionary, Chambers and the Collins.

Buzzer: Crossword Compiler 8, Chambers 12th edition, Chambers dictionary of XWD Abbreviations.

Before buying any of these software or books I used to do it in MS Excel.

My preferred end when starting off on a puzzle is easy to guess right?

Textrous: Dictionary.com, Anagrammer.com, Onelook.com, Chambers Dictionary, Crossword Compiler.

Q3: Publications you set for:

Arden: The Hindu.

Cryptonyte: Mint, The Hindu.

Scintillator: Only The Hindu. The other biggies in India do not really bother about carrying original cryptic crosswords.

Buzzer: The Hindu and CrOZworld, a monthly magazine published by Australian Crossword Club - this is a recent opportunity.

Mover: Only the Hindu now. I used to earlier contribute thematic crossword puzzles for Business Line and Financial Express.

Textrous: Mint, The Hindu.

Q4: Time you spend on creating a standard 15x15:

Arden: About 12 hours (spread over 3 days).

Cryptonyte: Haven't really timed myself, but I'd guess it takes between 4 and 8 hours.

Scintillator: It varies widely. Sometimes I spend hours on a grid-fill alone: conceiving a good theme and achieving a grid with minimum obscure words is itself a big challenge, even with all available software resources. The more the time you spend thinking and working on the possibilities a word offers, the better the chances are that you will end up with a good clue.

Buzzer: ...more than I should be. I don't have any cold numbers here. At times I'm creating a couple of puzzles every 2 or 3 days and at others struggling to finish one even after 10.

Mover: About 8 hours.

Textrous: Since I contribute only one 15x15 puzzle per month, I am generous with the time I devote to it. Typically 4 to 5 days of leisurely clueing.

Q5: Ximenean or Libertarian?

Arden: It is for you to judge and attach whatever label you think is appropriate.

Cryptonyte: Wannabe Ximenean would be the best description.

Scintillator: I am basically a Ximmer, but would not mind the occasional indulgence if that leads me to a nice clue (surface). To me, Ximenean philosophy is similar to what the Gita says - "This knowledge...is more arcane than any mystery. Consider it completely. Then act as you choose." Unfortunately the "complete consideration" part does not happen with many setters, resulting in unsatisfactory clues and making libertarianism undesirable as such.

Buzzer: Can I take Juliet's rosy stand? :)

Mover: Libertarian.

Textrous: Ximenean for the most part, with the occasional liberty in the interest of surface.

Q6: The hardest part of setting:

Arden: Clue writing. Sometimes a brainwave hits you and you come up with an excellent clue straight away. But, alas such moments of serendipity rarely come by and one has to keep at it.

Cryptonyte: Maintaining the correct difficulty level and the balance between entertaining and too contrived.

Scintillator: Facing solvers after dishing out a toughie. For Indian solvers it's almost always "the puzzle is tough and obscure" and never "I have not been good enough to crack it." On those days, I brace myself for vague remarks.

Buzzer: … is to have empathy for the solver. Because setters start with the word and frame a clue, it is easy to forget how hard it is the other way round.

Mover: Cluing the puzzle entries.

Textrous: Knowing how to avoid having too many of the same kind of wordplay in a puzzle.

---
I hope you have enjoyed the first instalment. In the second instalment, our setters will let us in on what they wish to change about the way they set crosswords, their favourite clues, their take on the need for a crossword editor for The Hindu, and more. Stay tuned.

Related Posts:

None Means No One, Nonetheless...

2012-04-28T08:22:00.001+05:30

…cryptic crosswords surprise you with an unexpected meaning of the word.

Here's a container clue that uses "none" in a different way.

Times Jumbo 816: Coolness of church man caught breaking into church office (11) NONCHALANCE
CH (church) ALAN (man) C (caught), in NONE (church office)

NONE = church office?

That's right. None (sometimes nones) is a church service/office held at 3pm.

Chambers lists the church service as nones only but none, singular, is in Collins.

It is usual to find none/nones in this sense represented by the word "service" on the clue's surface.

Times 24313: Excellent thing, having service in front of university church (8) NONESUCH
NONES (service) U (university) CH (church)

If you solve made-in-UK crosswords, it is useful to remember the names of the daily cycle of services: matins, lauds, terce, sext, nones, vespers and compline. You'll come across them sometime or the other in the course of solving.

Nones as Date

In the ancient Roman calendar, nones = the ninth day before the ides. Cryptic clues often define this as "date" or "date in Rome".

Times 23937: West left behind on this date? (5) NONES
W left behind => No N E S

The Controversial NONE~nun Homophone

NONE, when it means religious service, is not pronounced as "nun", as I learnt when blogging about this clue:

FT 13143 (Bradman): Broadcast of religious service at 3pm (4) NONE
homophone of nun (religious, as noun); definition: service at 3pm

Eileen's comment pointed out that the pronunciation of NONE in this sense is "known".

What's more, NONE in its regular "no one" sense isn't universally pronounced as "nun" either. Non-RP speakers pronounce "none" to rhyme with "gone", as the discussion on T4tT about the next clue suggests.

Times 24814: Prioress's assistant reportedly without equal? (6,2,4) SECOND TO NONE
sounds like SECOND TO NUN (prioress's assistant)

Solve These

Enjoy solving. Answers on Monday 30th April.

Times 25089: To hand over service, make fresh poster (2,4,8)
Times Jumbo 783: Note to service workers: take no action (3,2,4,5)
Guardian Genius (Puck): In one sense offers a service (5)

Related Posts:

Nonetheless Means Yet, Yet…

2012-04-26T07:29:00.000+05:30

…cryptic crosswords do not let "nonetheless" mean that all the time.

Sample this.

Times 24945: Start to see us colour up, nonetheless struggling to be very careful (10) SCRUPULOUS
Definition: very careful;
Wordplay: (S[ee] + COLOUR + UP – O)*

"Nonetheless" in this case means that an O (none) is to be removed from the fodder.

A few more clues for you to solve, using that wordplay.

Times 25144: Somehow wreck a boat, none the less, in stagnant part of river (9)

Guardian 25337 (Crucible): False diagnoses nonetheless given out (8)

Guardian 25607 (Orlando): Fancy notepaper, nonetheless, for arrested juvenile (5,3)

Related Posts:

Alphabet Jigsaw Puzzles

2012-04-20T07:05:00.000+05:30

As promised in the post on cold-solving, here’s a closer look at a special type of cryptic crossword in which cold-solving plays a significant role - the Alphabet Jigsaw puzzle.

This article has been written by Bhavan, also known as the setter Buzzer in The Hindu Crossword. Bhavan lives on the Gold Coast and duels daily with a variety of crosswords from the world over. From his experience of solving and recent foray into creating Alphabet Jigsaws, Bhavan shares with us tips to crack these seemingly unconquerable puzzles and gives us a view of challenges a setter might face while creating AJs, with suggestions to get around them.

What are AJs?

Alphabetic Jigsaw puzzles or AJs are typically made up of 26 clues. Each clue is labelled with a letter of the alphabet instead of a numbered slot in the grid. The answer to each clue begins with that same letter.

In a standard cryptic crossword, the solver knows from the beginning where each answer needs to be entered in the grid. In an AJ puzzle, that step also needs to be resolved by the solver, fitting the answers into the grid like in a jigsaw.

Therefore, for a solver, tackling an AJ puzzle is a double challenge and consequently a two-step process:

Solving the clues like in a regular cryptic.
Fitting the answers into the grid without the advantage of knowing where each answers goes.

Background

There seems to be some uncertainty about the origin of this puzzle.

AraucariaCrosswords.com says:

John Graham (Araucaria) is credited with creating this new format of crossword, the 'alphabetical jigsaw' in which the clues are labelled not with numbers but with letters which are the first letters of the solutions; when solved, the answers are to be placed "jigsaw-wise, however they may fit," though of course only one arrangement will work.

Puzzler.com says:

The AJ puzzle appeared for the first time in magazine format in the August 1973 issue of Puzzler. A version of this puzzle, created by John Galbraith Graham (Araucaria) may have appeared in The Guardian at an earlier date, but this has not been verified.

AJ puzzles are a recurring feature nowadays in many publications like The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent. A recent example is the Financial Times 2011 Christmas special by Gozo - a double AJ, in which every letter of the alphabet had two clues. CrOZworld, the magazine published by Australian Crossword Club, carries an AJ puzzle every month.

Puzzles To Try

This AJ puzzle from Puzzler is a good introduction for new solvers. The answers are in the same sheet:
Puzzler Alphabet Jigsaw

These AJ puzzles are from the Guardian, set by Araucaria:

Guardian Prize Crossword No. 25125
Guardian Prize Crossword No. 25262
Guardian Prize Crossword No. 25580

Solving Tips

As a solver encountering an AJ puzzle for the first time, some of these questions will run through your mind:

Is it possible that I will be able to cold-solve all the clues because there are no crossings for help?
Assuming I somehow accomplish that step where do I start with fitting the answers in?
If I can't get all the answers before I start with the jigsaw what are my options?

It looks impossible at first glance but there are few things in your favour:

You have starting letters for all the clues. This is a bigger plus than you realize initially.
A fair setter will ensure that the grid design allows you to try and fit some of your answers – especially the long ones. This means you will not need to cold-solve all the clues before beginning to fit them in.
The minimum number of answers you need to cold-solve depends to a large extent on the shape of the grid and the number of unique length answers. It is not unusual to begin with the longest answers first.
Using the letters available as a result of entering your first answer(s), you can tackle the next set of clues. As you repeat this step, your options narrow down enough to attempt any unsolved answers as well as fit them into the grid.
Sometimes the puzzle will have more than 26 clues with one or more letters giving you two answers. Comparing the answer lengths for such clues with the grid, you can easily identify where they go without even having to solve them.

As an example, if you look at the Guardian Crossword No. 25262 linked above, you will see that the letters B and J are repeated.

Take the J clues. The answer to one is 12 letters and the other is 7. The only place in the grid where this can happen is at the very top (row 1, column 3).

Similarly for the B clues with answer lengths of 7 and 5, the only slot in the grid is row 9, column 11.

Setter’s View

[As a budding setter, my own experience with AJ puzzles is limited, but penning down the problems I faced and the way I overcame some of them.]

As a setter creating an AJ puzzle, you’ll need to bear a few more things in mind beyond what you would with a regular cryptic.

First and foremost is the grid. While the way you frame the clues themselves is only limited by your imagination, it is your job to ensure that answers have a fair distribution in terms of lengths to help the solvers with fitting them into the grid.

Look at the first grid. No matter how fair and unambiguous your clues are, chances are your solvers will quickly abandon the puzzle after cold-solving a few clues.

This second grid on the other hand has a much better distribution of word lengths. The 11 letter answers give a good starting point for your solvers.
Be prepared to spend more time than your average grid fills. It is not going to be easy to find relatively non-obscure words especially with Q, X, Y, Z.
Even when you finalise the words it is going to be a manual trial and error process to fit them into the grid. Software like Crossword Compiler will help you to a certain extent in terms of suggesting possible words.
You can use a grid that contains more than 26 clues and still make an AJ puzzle. The excess clues give you the option to repeat some of the starting letters in your answers. That gives you some leeway in terms of trying to fit the unique answers and also allows your solvers to fix positions for some of the letters in the grid easily.

Useful Links

This article on fifteensquared discusses how to solve an AJ puzzle using Guardian 25484 (Araucaria) as an example.

Update (23rd April 2012): The Stickler (David Stickley), a setter for the Australian Crossword Club, has shared with us an AJ puzzle set by him. Solve it here. More AJ setting tips by him here.

Related Posts:

Cryptonyte’s Special Crossword in The Hindu

2012-04-14T13:16:00.000+05:30

While solving The Hindu Crossword 10437 by Cryptonyte (Tony Sebastian), I could spot the hidden (22d) references early on since I know Tony is getting married on 21st April 2012 (21a). And so the wedding mentions (1d, 9d), his fiancée's name (16d)…was there more? A Nina? I couldn't see one.

Perhaps in-jokes that we aren't expected to know, I thought, and left it at that.

I did wonder why 5d had a word in it for no reason at all.

Your ploy involves discretion towards the in-charge (6) TACTIC
TACT (discretion) IC (in-charge)

Why "your ploy"? Why not just:

Ploy involves discretion towards the in-charge (6) TACTIC

Then, with another look at the clues, the penny dropped.

Do you see what I see?

Will update the answer after a few hours. Follow other discussion about this crossword on THCC.

Update: The clues contain a buried message, highlighted here.

Congrats and best wishes to the happy couple.

Related Posts:

What does cold-solving mean?

2012-04-03T08:20:00.000+05:30

"The perils of cold-solving a cryptic definition clue!"
"We hope the paper sticks to grids that do not need so much cold-solving."

Common expressions in any crossword forum. If the term 'cold-solving' has perplexed you before, read on to understand what it means.

To 'cold-solve' a clue is to derive its answer without help from crossing answers in the grid. When you start with the first entry into the crossword grid, or when you run an eye over all the clues deducing the answers mentally, you are cold-solving.

"How many clues in this crossword did you solve cold?" can be a way to estimate the puzzle's difficulty. It can also be a marker of the solver's skill.

In theory, it should be possible for every clue in a standard cryptic crossword to get cold-solved since a good cryptic clue is expected have an unambiguous answer. The same does not hold for a quick crossword clue – a quick clue might lead to more than one answer and checking plays an important role in determining which one fits into the grid.

Some hard cryptic puzzles such as the Listener and Azed introduce additional complexity like deliberate misprints in answers, no word lengths, etc. Cold-solving acquires greater significance in such puzzles, as the point at which a solver can start to make entries in the grid depends on a subset of clues that have been cold-solved.

[We'll take a closer look at one such type of crossword in the next post.]

Related Posts:

Reverse Containers

2012-03-28T07:52:00.001+05:30

The idea behind reverse anagrams extends to other clue types as well. Such as the container clue type.

In a normal container clue, you are given the container A, content B and the c/c indicator. You fit B into A to get X.

In a reverse container clue, you are given that X. You work out how to read X as a relationship between container A and content B.

For example, look at the next two clues that use container-and-contents wordplay on the same word RESIGN - one the normal way, the other the reverse way.

Normal container clue:
Guardian 24944 (Bonxie): Second in command to step down (6) RESIGN
S (second) in REIGN (command)

Reverse container clue:
Sunday Times 4476 (Anax): As deputy, resign? (6,2,7) SECOND IN COMMAND
RESIGN = S in REIGN = second in command

How to identify a reverse container

Any form of reverse wordplay can be hard to spot since the standard bits that help the solver - the clue type indicator, the components to put together - are not explicit in the clue. There may be a hint like '?' to go upon but that's neither mandatory nor exclusive to reverse wordplay.

The strongest sign that you're dealing with a reverse container is all of these together:

the clue's answer is a phrase or a long word
the clue is brief
a container/content indicator like IN or OUT seems to fit into the answer, which you can see from the checking letters/word length/definition

The next step is to match the fodder (X) with the answer by reading it as a relationship between container and content. For example, in the SECOND IN COMMAND clue, try reading RESIGN in the form of "B in A". Keep in mind that both components A and B should make sense - RESIGN can't be something like "ES in RIGN" (unless the fodder is literally ESINRIGN) since RIGN does not mean anything. S in REIGN (command) will suggest itself easily.

Solve These

Enjoy solving these reverse container clues.

Guardian 25351 (Tramp): Must've? (5,7,2,3,3)

Guardian 25582 (Philistine): Stripped clue with a pattern (10)

Independent 7840 (Monk): Language suggested by Escher right away? (7)

Related Posts:

Anax's Special Crossword for Crossword Unclued

2012-03-19T08:08:00.001+05:30

I found a message from Anax in my mailbox this weekend, containing a delightful surprise: a crossword created especially for Crossword Unclued.

I'm thrilled to bits :) Sharing the crossword with you all. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Please post your answers/opinions/feedback in the comments section. For this post comment moderation is off and a max limit of 3 answers per person is on.

[If you cannot see the crossword over here, please visit http://crossword.info/anaxcrosswords/CrosswordUnclued.]

The interactive grid above might not be visible in your mailbox/RSS reader. Please visit the blog to access it. If you still cannot view it, try this link or the print version:

Anax's Crossword for Crossword Unclued

Enjoy solving!

[Update: Annotated answers here.]

@Anax: Thank you very much.

Related Posts:

Clue Challenge: Annotate These Answers IV

2012-03-14T08:24:00.001+05:30

Latest edition of clues that I found hard to parse despite being given the answer. You're invited to wrap your grey cells around them. How many of these clues can you annotate?

Visit our past clue annotation challenges: I, II and III.

Update (16th March 2012): Annotations added.

1. Times 25026: Men organised to run in short jacket (5) TUNIC
Annotation: TU (men organised i.e. trade union) NIC[k] (run in i.e. arrest, short); definition: jacket.

2. Sunday Times 4467 (Dean Mayer): Committee representing everything in London? (7,5) WORKING PARTY
Annotation: everything in lONDOn = ON (working) DO (party); definition: committee.

3. Guardian 25466 (Araucaria): Study in group for preference with absolutely endless entry (Collins) (5,3,6,6) BREAD AND BUTTER LETTER
Annotation: READ (study) in BAND (group), BETTER (for preference) around UTTERL[y] (absolutely, endless); definition: Collins. See this link for the origin of the synonym. A bit obscure perhaps but an interesting bit of trivia to pick up, especially for Austen fans.

4. Times 25048: In second wrongful act, stole powered vessel (9) MOTORBOAT
Annotation: BOA (stole) in MO (second) TORT (wrongful act); definition: powered vessel.

5. Guardian 25559 (Paul): "Numbers" originally called "number" in error, raised (9) NINETEENS
Annotation: NEE (originally called) TEN (number), in SIN (error), all reversed; definition: numbers.

6. FT 13918 (Redshank): With eg Imran, he could be the leading runmaker (9) TENDULKAR
Annotation: (TENDULKAR + eg Imran he)* = the leading runmaker [composite anagram]; definition: the entire clue. Great to explain a clue about 'the leading runmaker' on the day he scored his 100th century.

7. FT 13942 (Alberich): End of semester? (8) TERMINUS
Annotation: End = terminus, and semester = "term" in US; cryptic double-definition.

8. Independent 7892 (Anax): Is article carried by mum on tea cloth? (7,7) CHAMOIS LEATHER
Annotation: ISLE (is) A (article) in MOTHER (mum), on i.e. after CHA (tea); definition: cloth.

Related Posts:

Dr. Fill, Crossword Solving Software to Compete with Human Solvers

2012-03-08T08:07:00.001+05:30

Dr. Fill, a new software than can solve American-style crosswords, is poised to make a keenly-watched debut in the upcoming American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Dr. Fill has been built by Matt Ginsberg, a former artificial intelligence researcher and now a regular crossword constructor for the New York Times. Matt Ginsberg is also the creator of GIB, the first bridge software to beat several top-ranked human bridge players in 1998.

The crossword solving program has been put through simulations of several past tournament crosswords and has shown consistently high scores. Based on the performance tests conducted so far, Dr. Fill's might place 20th in this year's tournament, The Economist reports.

Dr. Fill will be a "non-ranked participant" in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament - that is, it won't be competing officially but will solve the puzzles alongside human participants and will submit the solutions to the judges for scoring. According to the banner on the tournament's official site, an "I Beat Dr. Fill" button will be awarded to any contestant who scores higher than Dr. Fill.

What is the secret of Dr. Fill's solving ability?

The abstract for Ginsberg's research paper on JAIR provides this daunting explanation:

Dr.Fill works by converting crosswords to weighted CSPs, and then using a variety of novel techniques to find a solution. These techniques include generally applicable heuristics for variable and value selection, a variant of limited discrepancy search, and postprocessing and partitioning ideas. Branch and bound is not used, as it was incompatible with postprocessing.

Gizmodo makes Dr.Fill's approach sound far more accessible. It is the same one Indians know as ratta.

What makes Dr. Fill so smart, so worthy of competition with those speedy word nerds? Memory. He's basically memorized the entire cannon of crossword puzzles to plug-and-play as needed. Unlike Watson, Dr. Fill wasn't programmed to understand the language of the clues, but rather to play the game.

Dr. Fill's database contains clues and answers for all major American crosswords created since 1900, plus references to online sources like Wikipedia and the movie site IMDb. The program does not try to make sense of the words and clues, instead it sifts through a long list of potential answers for a slot in the grid and fills in the most likely one, then works through the crossing clues.

Will Shortz, crossword editor of the New York Times, sounds skeptical about Dr. Fills ability to beat human crossword solvers but doesn't rule out the possibility [San Francisco Chronicle]:

Because of the complexity of the English language, the breadth of subjects covered in puzzles and the playfulness of crossword themes, I've always thought that a human brain would be better than a computer at solving crosswords. Maybe I'll be proved wrong.

We’ll know soon. The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament begins on 16th March 2012.

Update: Check out this video report about Dr.Fill with shots of the software in action (there's a 30 second ad before the 2:22 min video):

Related Posts:

Happy 80th Birthday, Rufus!

2012-02-22T11:23:00.001+05:30

A very happy birthday to the Roger Squires aka Rufus/Dante, one of the best-loved crossword setters in the world. There's a nice profile of him up on the Guardian blog today, a special cryptic crossword by Enigmatist in the Guardian [25565] and many glowing tributes written for him on fifteensquared. Do check them out.

And if you haven't yet, read Roger's interview on Crossword Unclued – the most visited post on my blog in 2011.

Here's a selection of 10 superbly crafted clues by the inimitable setter. Enjoy solving.

1. News rooms (8) Q_______

2. Well-fed, he is round in form (9) N_______

3. Loaf around for a while? (5,5) S____ ____D

4. Physical training instructor (6) M_____

5. Still to come or already gone? (4) L___

6. Father is up and about (4) S___

7. Asian playing solitaire, but not having to? (7) I______

8. Gay Lib - the organisation (6) B_____

9. Lincoln died sleeping? Apparently so (4) A___

10. Out of sight, out of mind (5,3,4) R____ ___ ___D

Update: More birthday posts for Roger Squires – a special puzzle on Big Dave's blog and an interview by Alan Connor.

Related Posts:

15 Crossword Tweeters You Should Know About

2012-02-17T10:19:00.001+05:30

#followfriday is a twitter tradition of suggesting interesting people to follow on twitter. Posting a long version of it on my blog this Friday. I hope this inspires some of you who aren't on twitter, to now become a part of it.

Before I joined twitter, I thought of it as a place where celebrities made controversial remarks and the rest wrote mundane details of their personal lives. I thought it wasn't for me. It is only after joining that I've realised this: like on the rest of the web, twitter is what you want it to be. I tweet about crosswords, follow people whose tweets relate to my interests, and absolutely love it. Twitter introduced me to many crossword enthusiasts I might not have known otherwise. Thanks to Tony for getting me to join.

My recommendations for twitter accounts of crossword-related people.

Crossword Setters, Editors

	@anaxcrosswords	Dean Mayer aka Anax/Loroso/Elkamere. Cryptic crossword setter for The Times, Independent, Telegraph, FT and Sunday Times.
	@BoatmanCryptics	Ashley aka Boatman. Guardian crossword setter.
	@crypticpaul	John Halpern. Crossword setter for The Guardian, Financial Times, The Times & The Independent.
	@diogeneb	Crossword setter for The Hindu (Textrous) and Mint.
	@eimi_indy	Mike Hutchinson. Crossword editor of The Independent, for which he also sets as Eimi.
	@Mickhodgkin	Mick Hodgkin aka crossword setter Morph/Micawber.
	@notytony	Tony Sebastian. Crossword setter for The Hindu (Cryptonyte) and Mint.
	@obel	David Tossman. Crossword setter for the New Zealand Listener.
	@Will_Shortz	Will Shortz. Crossword editor, The New York Times.

For cryptic clues on twitter:

	@aclueaday	Clues by a crossword setter from Newport.
	@sancryptic	Clues by hobbyist setter Sanjeev Vaidyanathan.

Crossword Bloggers, Webmasters

	@alanconnor	Alan Connor. Blogger on the Guardian Crossword blog.
	@dzharrison	Derek Harrison of The Crossword Centre.
	@mhl20	Mark Longair. Blogger on Fifteensquared.
	@tilsit	Dave Tilley. Blogger on Big Dave's Crossword blog.

Crossword Super Solvers

A growing list of crossword enthusiasts who participate in twitter conversations about cryptic crosswords and solve cryptic clues with amazing speed. Follow the list: Crossword Super Solvers.

---
Know of crossword tweeters not listed here? You're welcome to add your suggestions in the comments.

Related Posts:

The notorious A on B device

2012-02-13T07:30:00.001+05:30

The proper use of "on" in cryptic clues has been a matter of long-standing debate/confusion in crossword circles. Is "A on B" equal to AB (A before B), or is it BA (A after B)? Can it mean either, or only one of the two?

The dictionary definition of "on" provides several possible interpretations. Since "on" means "next to", it can be reasoned that "A on B" implies adjacent in any direction. The issue then is of fairness to the solver. Does allowing any possible interpretation of "on" make the clue too tough? Or, as with "about", can solvers handle the word's many meanings?

The last I heard, the Times crossword allowed "A on B" to mean only one thing – BA in Across clues, AB in Down clues [check out this discussion on UKPuzzle]. As the examples below show, not all publications adhere to this convention.

ACROSS: A on B = AB

In the Times crossword, you will not see "A on B" = AB in in Across clues. Others seem open to this interpretation.

Independent 7887 (Crosophile): Not prepared to be sent over to remote place on earth for conflict (7) WARFARE
RAW (not prepared) reversed, FAR (remote place) on i.e. adjacent to E (Earth)

FT 13448 (Jason) Wager on group providing storage space? (8) BACKPACK
BACK (wager) on i.e. adjacent to PACK (group)

THC 10383 (Textrous): Practical joke on a loony (4) GAGA
GAG (practical joke) on i.e. adjacent to A

ACROSS: A on B = BA

The most common way of treating "A on B" in Across clues – A attached to the end of B.

FT13866 (Falcon): A very bad argument on singular Mayfair street (6,3) SAVILE ROW
A VILE (very bad) ROW (argument) on i.e. after S (singular)

Times 24691: Prepare to leave hotel agent with a thousand on account (6) REPACK
REP (agent), K (a thousand) on i.e. after AC (account)

DOWN: A on B = AB

A on top of B is the usual reading for "A on B" in Down clues, the opposite of its widely accepted meaning in Across clues.

FT 13587 (Dante): Upset, go on about a terrible person (4) OGRE
GO upset i.e. reversed, on i.e. on top of RE (about)

DOWN: A on B = BA

"A on B" = BA is rare in Down clues but by no means non-existent. The Across clue logic "A attached to the end of B" can hold equally good for Down clues.

FT 13587 (Dante): Arrives, riding on a posh car (5,2) ROLLS UP
UP (riding) on i.e. after ROLLS (posh car)

Interestingly, the Down clues for OGRE and ROLLS UP, with their different ways of treating "A on B", appeared consecutively in the same crossword.

What do you think?

As a solver, are you OK with "A on B" meaning either AB or BA, or would you prefer a single meaning only? If you're open to either interpretation, do you expect an internal consistency within the same crossword?

If you are a setter, how do you want "A on B" to work? Do you find the restriction to a single meaning limiting/illogical?

Solve These

[Across] Indy 7897 (Punk): Holy woman on business having something of a tattoo - that's a problem (9) C_______M
[Across] Times 24790: See what’s in store with hard work on operating system (6-4) W_____-___P

[Down] Guardian 25555 (Boatman): Star puts curse on a music industry award: Boatman's lost (8) H______M
[Down] Times 25034: Drug, one injected during surgery on tummy at regular intervals (5) O____

Related Posts:

Can a computer program write cryptic clues?

2012-02-07T07:50:00.001+05:30

I bet your answer is a vehement "No" (unless you are Spiffytrix's friend). Grid fills maybe, anagram suggestions - but entire clues? Not possible. This isn't Sudoku to get generated by software.

That's what I thought, which is why Enigma took me by surprise. Enigma, the brainchild of David Hardcastle, is a computer program that auto-generates cryptic clues for any word input. David built this program over a period of four years, as part of his thesis for PhD in Computer Science, Birkbeck, University of London.

In his thesis [p245], David says:

there is a widely held (and probably well-founded) belief that computers can generate English language but not “natural” English language. A key goal for ENIGMA is to challenge that belief, and for the system to generate clues with fluent surface texts.

How Enigma Works

Given a word, the first step is to figure out all the ways the word can be clued using the puzzle rubrics configured in the system. The user can then select a particular type from the list and generate clues using that type.

Let's see this work for the input word VIEWERS. The system comes up with a number of "clue plans".

"Exp" represents the number of possible combinations through which the clue could be expressed, where 4 means 10⁴ =10,000 etc.

We select the fifth clue plan - (anagram(WIVES) around ER) - and click the Generate button, then the system generates clues which are shown ordered by rank.

[click to enlarge]

Enigma generates the clues by treating the clue plan as a set of chunks and generating text for one chunk at a time. For example, (WIVES)* translates to chunks of text like 'strange wives', 'wives about', 'reorder wives' etc. The system discards those chunks that don't work syntactically (e.g. 'wives problem') or don't work semantically (e.g. 'jumbled wives').

The (rather unfortunate) phrase 'battered wives' scores above other similar alternatives such as 'fancy wives' since it is matched as a "collocate" i.e. a phrase in English with these exact words. The system recognises thematic associations between words by computing word distance between pairs of words in a 100 million word corpus (the British National Corpus) and using a statistical algorithm to determine whether or not a given pair of words is unusually correlated in the text.

Next the system finds ways of representing ER, such as hospital department, pause, etc.

Then the system explores all frames representing 'A in B' with all the combinations of the 'anagram of WIVES' chunk and the 'ER' chunk to try to build a new, meaningful chunk for that whole piece of the clue.

The auto-generated explanation for this clue is:

How Good Are Enigma-Generated Clues?

When Enigma was built, David conducted an evaluation in two ways –

1. Turing-style test – For the same light, two clues were provided – an Enigma-generated clue and a Sun newspaper clue. 30 pairs of such clues were presented and solvers were asked to pick the Enigma-generated clue from each pair.

2. Domain expert assessment - Crossword compilers Jonathan Crowther and Don Manley, editors Kate Fassett and Mike Hutchison, and expert solvers provided their feedback on clue quality.

60 people participated in the Turing-style test and on average they correctly guessed the clue from the Sun newspaper 70% of the time. The best score (parity with the newspaper) was 50% and the worst (obvious to tell apart) 100%. The pairs (now marked with which is Enigma-generated) are here.

The domain experts were harsher critics of the system and found most clues lacking in human wit. The surface reading was right some of the time but not all the time. Another criticism was based on originality. For example, ENIGMA scored the clue "Drain fresh ewers (5)" for SEWERS high, however this has been used often in cryptic clues and a human setter familiar with crosswords would avoid it. While this similarity with human output is something of a success, ENIGMA's inability to recognise originality which comes to human setters is a failing.

The major drawback of Enigma is its dependency on the encoded semantics, which in its current state is rather shallow. For example, in the VIEWERS clue, a human compiler would have spotted 'without hesitation' as a construct for '… around ER', and using same elements have made "Witnesses battered wives without hesitation (7)", a much more fluent clue. This Enigma has not managed – because 'B without A' has not been encoded.

The problem gets compounded when the clue length increases, with the surface becoming nonsensical. The system has no strategic planning component to organise the surface beyond clause and sub-clause level.

Read the detailed evaluation here [p228-262].

The domain experts were asked if any of the clues of a set of 42 were of publishable quality. Mike Hutchinson highlighted 10 clues, Jonathan Crowther highlighted 8 and Sandy Balfour 9. One can conclude that, while Enigma is no threat to human crossword setters, it does get it right at least some of the time.

A Puzzle to Try

Have a go at this crossword with clues generated entirely by Enigma:

Enigma Crossword

Answers here.

Related Posts:

Setting with Diamonds

2012-01-12T08:20:00.001+05:30

Just as a cut diamond's facets can change a light ray's plane of travel, the word 'diamond' in a cryptic clue can take many forms to send the solver off on a wrong course.

Some popular ways in which setters craft clues with 'diamond' in them:

A Suit Of Cards

Diamond is one of the four playing card symbols. Cryptic clues typically use diamond as the gemstone on the clue's surface and a playing card in the answer.

Guardian 25320 (Brendan): Bachelor with one diamond, say, for movie actress (6) BACALL
BA (bachelor) CALL ('one diamond', an example of a call in a card game)

Times 24860: Criticising valuable diamond, perhaps, after turning up nose (8) KNOCKING
KING (a high-value diamond in a card game), after CONK (nose) reversed

The 60th Anniversary

The 60th anniversary of an event such as a wedding, or the length of time a monarch has reigned, is a diamond jubilee.

Times 4425: An anniversary for which there could be an 'icy' reception? (7,7) DIAMOND WEDDING dd

Times 24506: Did adding women upset big union anniversary? (7,7) DIAMOND WEDDING
(DID ADDING WOMEN)*

The abbreviation for 'diamonds' in playing cards. Useful to setters for adding/deleting a letter in the answer.

Guardian 25292 (Bonxie): Old hat with diamonds? Nothing better! (5) OUTDO
OUT (old hat) D (diamonds) O (nothing)

FT 13377 (Aardvark): Writer’s agent wearing diamonds similarly (2,4) IN KIND
INK (writer's agent) IN (wearing) D (diamonds)

ICE

Slang for diamond(s).

FT 13695 (Phssthpok): Prominent celebrity wears diamonds (10) NOTICEABLE
NOTABLE (celebrity) around ICE (diamonds)

Times 24999: Several times getting tips from tutor holding hearts and diamonds (6) THRICE
T[uto]R around H, ICE (diamonds)

ROCK

Another slang for diamond.

FT 13093 (Monk): Fake diamond's a national emblem (8) SHAMROCK
SHAM (fake) ROCK (diamond). The national symbol of Ireland.

Guardian 24309 (Brendan): Pass a diamond to Nick in play and finish in lowest position (5,4,6) REACH ROCK BOTTOM
REACH (pass) ROCK (diamond) BOTTOM (Nick in play - character in Shakespeare's AMND)

The baseball field

The field on which baseball is played is called a 'diamond'.

Jumbo 881: Components of ring perhaps where some Americans find sporting action (8) DIAMONDS dd

Guardian 25239 (Rufus): He plays in clubs and diamonds (8,6) BASEBALL PLAYER cd
A baseball player plays for a sporting club, in a baseball diamond.

The Shape ◊

The rhombus shape, called a 'diamond' after the diamond suit in playing cards.

THC (Buzzer): Wild mob rush for a diamond (7) RHOMBUS
(MOB RUSH)*

Times 23499: Like diamonds, for example, all are quite different (11) EQUILATERAL
(ALL ARE QUITE)*. In a rhombus, all sides are of equal length.

Solve These

FT 13161 (Alberich): Ginger Spice gives diamond maybe to a relative in the States (8) C_______

Times 24059: One beset by goddamned wind spoiled celebration for pensioners (7,7)

Guardian 25387 (Paul): Building provided rocks behind shed, half removed (7) E______

Everyman 3373: Replace wonderful watch studded with diamonds (9) S_______

Related Posts:

My Top Ten Clues 2011

2011-12-28T08:15:00.000+05:30

I hope you all are enjoying the festive season. My best wishes to you for a very happy and successful new year 2012.

Signing off this year with a round-up of clues I've enjoyed immensely in 2011. Have fun solving and do share your own favourite clues of the year too.

Indy 7569 (Dac): Millions read this novel (4,5)

Times 24747: Diverted article leaving bottom exposed (2-6) __-R_____

FT13601 (Alberich): Honestly? No, otherwise (2,3,3)

FT13718 (Dante): What’s made for maid in house to clean and polish (9) __M_____E

Guardian 25271 (Brendan): Theatric saga I composed, ending of which is kept secret (6,8) A_____ ________

FT 13657 (Alberich): Man United playing away later rued foul (9) A_______R

Guardian 25360 (Paul): Black bovine with vertigo, say — what's so exciting? (11) A_________C

Guardian 25456 (Pasquale): A trip with the legwork would be disastrous for me (9,6) T________ _____R

@aclueaday on twitter: Risk acne eruption without this? (8)

Independent 7702 (Anax): Stupid cow needed my ring for this (7,8) W______ ____M___

[Update: See comments for answers.]

Related Posts:

Why is Horse = GG?

2011-12-22T08:06:00.001+05:30

In British cryptic crosswords, GG is often used as an abbreviation for 'horse'.

FT 13588 (Orense): Move from side to side in horse riding trick (6) WIGGLE
GG (horse) riding i.e. being carried by WILE (trick)

GG or gee-gee is a word for horse used by children or in colloquial speech in UK. The internet provides different explanations for its etymology. Wikipedia says that the term "Gee-Gee" is taken from horse-racing where a Gee-Gee is the first horse out of the starting gate. Other sources say that GG is short for the command given to horses to go: "gee up". I'm not sure which is the actual origin of the word, comments that can shed light on this are most welcome.

In any case, for solving cryptic clues, it is sufficient to know that horse = GG and that the term is mostly used by children.

Have a go at these clues that use horse = GG:

Independent 7746 (Anax): Pushes horse in front over (4, 2)

Guardian 24635 (Enigmatist): Less diminutive horse in nursery found in the final frame (6)

Guardian 25476 (Boatman): Startling horse eaten by naughty goblin (8)

Related Posts:

Clues for Austenians

2011-12-16T08:10:00.000+05:30

"One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other", says the eponymous heroine of Jane Austen's Emma, summing up the defence of all crossword nuts when questioned by their well-meaning, non-crossword friends.

Jane Austen was born on this day, the 16th of December, in 1775, and remains one of the most popular authors ever. Her dazzling wit and social commentary delight us today as much as they did 200 years ago.

As a birthday tribute, a selection of clues from cryptic crosswords that refer to Jane Austen or her works. Especially for Jane Austen admirers.

1. Times 25009: Mansfield Park without its heroine would be very funny (9) P_______S

2. Guardian 25067 (Araucaria): Lady Catherine's place in gross mistreatment (7) R_____

3. Times 23982: Novel speciality of fellow explorer (9,4) ___S_____ __R_

4. Guardian 24391 (Araucaria): Elizabeth's boy catcher (6) B_____

5. Guardian 24344 (Rufus): Complaint of aunt finally in Austen novel (7) T______ /* Hint: No Austen knowledge required. */

6. Times 24539: Emma’s man speaking regularly (7) K________

7. Times 23923: See my girl injured here - Louisa? (4,5) L___ R____/* Hint: Recall Persuasion. */

8. Times 24873: Staff, keeping discipline, set off for work (9,4) ____F____ _A__

9. Times 23771: Emotion at centre of Austen novel? (5) __G__

10. Guardian 24674 (Araucaria): Clue (not the first) about little bag for slippery creature who became Mrs Ferrars (4,6) L___ _____E

An older post devoted to Emma: Setters' Favourite Book?

Related Posts:

Christmas Gift Ideas for the Crossword Buff

2011-12-12T10:37:00.001+05:30

Pick a gift for yourself or your favourite crossword fan this Christmas. Some crossword-themed knickknacks and books for you to choose from, listed below. There's an attractive discount running on the Chambers Crossword Lover's Dictionary Set on Amazon UK – regular price £70.00, being sold currently for £27.49.

Chambers Crossword Lover's Dictionary Set	Crossword Mug	Umbra Crossword Frame
Crossword Puzzle Teapot	Crossword Loo Roll	I Love Crosswords Hoodie
How to Master The Times Crossword	Ximenes on the Art of the Crossword	Black Belt in Crosswords Mug

[Amazon will give me a 4% referral fee if you buy through a link on my page. The price for you will remain the same.]

Also consider this unique set of twelve 3D crosswords created by some of the best crossword compilers from UK. Money from your purchase goes to BBC CiNA and RNIB.

Related Posts:

Clue Challenge: Annotate These Answers III

2011-12-07T08:13:00.001+05:30

With this batch of clues, I sweated over making sense of the wordplay even after the answer was plain. The clues with their solutions are presented below. Can you work out how to get the answer from the clue?

Update (08th December 2011): Annotations added.

1. Guardian 25481 (Paul): Regarding the eyes, doubly hard to claim pension, initially, after surgery (10) OPHTHALMIC
Annotation: (HH+TO+CLAIM+P[ension]) 'after surgery' i.e. anagrammed; definition: regarding the eyes.

2. Times 24962: Protective garments formerly, covering legs? Quite the opposite (9) PINAFORES
Annotation: PIN(AFORE)S i.e. the opposite of AFORE (formerly) around PINS (legs); definition: protective garments.

3. FT 13859 (Alberich): Letter concerning endless gossip after doctor left last practice (5,9) DRESS REHEARSAL
Annotation: ESS (letter 'S') RE (concerning) HEARSA[y] (endless gossip), after DR (doctor), L (left); definition: last practice.

4. Times 24907: With cold, bracing air outside, maidens keep cozy here (7,4) COMFORT ZONE
Annotation: C (cold) OZONE (bracing air), around M (maidens) FORT (keep); definition: cozy here.

5. Independent 7746 (Anax): Produced nothing before the signal to stop (8) FATHERED
Annotation: FA (nothing, as in sweet FA) THE RED (signal to stop); definition: produced.

6. FT 13657 (Alberich): Not clever to pick on American legendary hero (7) PERSEUS
Annotation: FPERSECUTE (pick on) – CUTE (clever) + US (American); definition: legendary hero.

7. Guardian 25439 (Orlando): Animals with peculiar prehensile tails, certainly not quite right (8) REINDEER
Annotation: 'tails' i.e. last letters of 'peculiaR prehensilE' INDEE[d] (certainly, not quite) R (right); definition: animals.

8. Independent 7840 (Monk): Language suggested by Escher right away? (7) CHINESE
Annotation: ESCHE[r] = CH in ESE; definition: language.

Visit our past clue challenges: Annotate These Answers I and Annotate These Answers II.

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This Is Not The Definition

2011-11-28T14:56:00.001+05:30

The definition in a cryptic clue is not always a synonym of the answer. Sometimes crossword setters take the twisted route of defining the answer as the opposite of its antonym. Why do they do that? It could be that a lack of variety in available synonyms means that an antonym expands the range of wordplay options, as in:

Independent 7588 (Anax): Not a word meaning 'many' - not 'varied' (7) ANTONYM
(MANY NOT)*, with "varied" as anagrind and "not a word meaning" as the roundabout definition.

A negated antonym can be used for wordplay components within the clue as well. For example:

Guardian 25438 (Brendan): Husband with weapon not so benign (8) HARMLESS
H (husband) ARMLESS (with weapon, not so), and "benign" as the definition. The negated antonym for ARMLESS also produces a more compelling surface - "not so" appears to be joined to "benign" in a lift and separate style.

One might question the logical accuracy of this device. Till a while back, I wondered why "not finished" meant "started" (why not "in progress"?), or "not going" meant "coming" (how about "stationary"?). I have come to a grudging acceptance now – while "not going" isn't necessarily "coming", I guess the point is that it can mean that.

In most cases the way out is to consider the logical extreme, unless the clue has words like "not quite" or "not really". This brings in another level of complexity – now the setter may not be asking for a total reversal, merely a shift to a lower gradient.

FT 13852 (Io): Not quite the biggest tie writer is wrapping round (4) SEMI
ME (writer) inside IS, all reversed. "Not quite the biggest tie" i.e. not the final match but the one before it.

The next one – Vinod Raman's winning clue from DIY COW – has a definition by example and a definition by negation both rolled into an &lit:

Flying pigs off cue here? Not exactly (6,2,6) FIGURE OF SPEECH
(PIGS OFF CUE HERE)* &lit

The setter can potentially take a lot of liberties with this device and it needs care to decide if the clue works fairly enough to be solvable.

Solve These

These clues have some "antonym rejection" going on. Enjoy solving.

Independent 7389 (Radian): Freewheels topless all over the place? Not here (9)

Times Sunday 4392: Gear not in suitable shape (6)

Times 24878: The opposite of ground attack (3,3) L__ ___

THC 9516 (Neyartha): Present? It is not our auditor's (5)

Independent (Phi): Man involved with dunes? Not exactly! (8) A_______

Related Posts:

Definition By Example – another case in which the definition is not a synonym of the answer.
How To Interpret Punctuation In Clues
Reverse Anagrams

Spell Out The Answer

2011-11-22T08:51:00.002+05:30

Have fun with these creative clues that make you play with the spelling of words.

Example: Where to find hero, a moderate (6-2-3-4)

Answer: MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, since HERO+A is the middle of 'tHE ROAd'.

Try these:

1. HT 23099: What you need to spell BAD? Given up? (9) A_______D

2. HT 23102: What changes come to me? Nothing manageable (2,3,2) N_ ___ _O

3. [from the Times]: Impossible to express in a four-letter word? (9) I_______E

4. Guardian 25398 (Brendan): Lacking parts for me? Never again! (2,4) __ __R_

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Interview: Roger Squires

2011-11-09T08:23:00.001+05:30

He holds the Guinness record for being the most prolific crossword setter in the world. He is also among the most popular, admired for being witty and fair and accessible all at once, a feat few compilers can pull off. Roger Squires aka Rufus/Dante, with decades of work as crossword setter, continues to entertain us like no other.

In this interview, Roger Squires talks about the highs and lows of his extraordinarily eventful life, his approach to crossword-setting, and the secret of his enduring creativity.

Q1. It is great to be talking with you, Roger. You've had an extremely diverse career. Tell us about it.

Roger: From the age of 7 WWII opened my eyes to the world and I decided very early on that I wanted to see the world. I sat the exam for Dartmouth Naval College at 13 needing a scholarship as we couldn’t afford the fees. I passed but the scholarship wasn’t awarded as my Latin “was not up to the standard required”. Of course, everyone knows how important Latin is to a naval officer! Instead I waited another two years, gained my school certificate, then volunteered for the Royal Navy as a Boy Seaman at age 15. By the age of 20 I had served in frigates and destroyers, and was what is believed to be the youngest ever Seaman Petty Officer.

In 1952 I was in Malta serving in HMS Ocean, en route for the Korean War. Lord Louis Mountbatten, then a Sea Lord, became worried at the number of aircrew getting killed with the new fast jets landing on old carriers, and announced a new scheme whereby lower deck ratings could volunteer for flying training. I applied and flew back to England for the first course, and qualified as a Sub-Lieutenant Observer in the Fleet Air Arm. My first Squadron was test flying the new Gannet anti-submarine aircraft, and then later, as a Lieutenant, I served in Air Early Warning and Radio Warfare Squadrons, in various carriers, visiting over 50 countries. Coming from the lower deck my commission meant I had to request to remain in the service at age 30. I was initially accepted but, when told I would be moved to Air Traffic Control, I decided to leave.

I had no real qualifications so, while looking around for a “proper” job, earned my living from my hobbies – performing magic and playing small parts on TV, and setting crosswords. All went well until 1977 when my marriage broke down. I immediately cut down my “show business” activities to remain at home to look after the pre-teenage boys.

Back in 1963 I was accepted as a regular setter for the Birmingham Post, and several crossword syndicates. However, their fees were small and I found that, to earn a decent living, I had to provide 40 crosswords every week. The head of Central Press Features put my name forward as the “World’s Most Prolific Crossword Setter” and Norris McWhirter of Guinness Records, accepted the record in 1978.

In 1981 I became the crossword editor of the Birmingham Post for 22 years. Next year, DV, will be my 49th year as a setter.

Q2. How did you get interested in crosswords?

Roger: I think I got my love of words from my paternal Grandmother, a well-known Victorian poet. My mother was an avid reader and my father used to win literary competitions in magazines. Lower deck life in the RN precluded my seeing regular crosswords. Later, as an officer, when my squadron was stationed in Cornwall, we were often stopped from flying by the winter weather. On these occasions the aircrew often played cards – for money. As a Member of the Magic Circle I was banned, so to fill in time, I began solving the occasional cryptic in the wardroom papers until I got to the stage I was solving 12 puzzles every day. Then, when the squadron rejoined our carrier at sea where there were no newspapers, I started compiling crosswords. I left the Fleet Air Arm in 1963, the same year as my first crossword was published in The Radio Times. My acting and magic fitted in well in between setting until my first marriage foundered.

Q3. Which publications do you currently set for? If you were constrained to choose only one of these, which one would you choose?

Roger: Currently I am setting every Monday in the Daily Telegraph, roughly 4 out of 5 Mondays in The Guardian (as Rufus), and alternate Mondays in the FT (as Dante). I am also still topping up puzzles for Gemini Crosswords [which we in India get to solve in the Indian Express – Shuchi], one puzzle a week for 15 local weekly Journals, and the Yorkshire Post (as R.F.S.).

I would find it extremely difficult to choose if I had to select one of the nationals. I have been with the Guardian and FT over 30 years and with the Telegraph 25 years.

Q4. Do you have to make an effort to adapt your crosswords to suit different rules for different publications?

Roger: I find it complex to explain exactly how the styles of, say, the nationals are subtly different, but when faced with different clues for a word I seem, in my own mind at least, to know which clue to use for each publication. After so long providing these outlets, I don’t really have to think too much about it, I think about their solvers and almost automatically pick the clue I think most suitable. I do make mistakes!

Q5. What is the best compliment you have ever received?

Roger: A letter published in the Guardian in the 1990s from a Yorkshire reader started:

For me, Araucaria is the Beethoven of setters – immensely impressive, but laboured and heavy-footed at times….The incomparable Rufus, on the other hand, is Mozart – concise, elegant, witty, sparkling.

Unfortunately, as I am a fan of John Graham as a setter, and as a person, I reluctantly have to take this compliment with a pinch of salt!

Mentioning John Graham, I am surprised at several similarities in our lives, viz.:

We joined the services (John in the RAF: I joined the RN)
We became navigators (John RAF: Me Fleet Air Arm)
We survived crashes (John by parachute: me in the sea)
Our first marriages failed.
We had to change the way we earned our money (John could not remain a clergyman having had a divorce: I had to give up “show business” – magic and acting – to be at home to look after our two pre-teenage sons)
We both turned to crosswords as our main job (John in 1958: me in 1963)
John is now a revered setter: I am… well, you can’t have everything!

Q6. Where do you place yourself on the Ximenean-Libertarian scale?

Roger: Surprisingly I’ve never seriously considered this. I suppose I am usually Ximenean with the occasional lapses into Libertarian.

Q7. The process of crossword creation, the technology, the subjects that interest the audience have evolved since the time you started setting. How has this impacted your approach to setting?

Roger: When I began setting, I had to draw the grids by hand then fill in solutions in pencil, with much rubbing out as I progressed. My son Michael, now running his own Veterinary practice in Sheffield, is also very skilled in IT. In the mid-90s he bought me the Crossword Compiler program for my birthday, and helped me set it up on a laptop. This provided me with grids, and a massive choice of words that fitted at each stage of setting. Without this aid I don’t think I would still be setting in my 80^th year! (I think “in my 80^th year” sounds better than “aged 79”!)

Q8. What is your method of setting? Do you write all the clues in sequence, in one sitting or in spurts? How long does it take you to set a typical 15x15?

Roger: By trial and error over the years I have settled on a selection of grids for each outlet that are relatively easy to fill, giving me more freedom in choice of words. I start with the long words as they often interconnect and cause difficulty when trying to fit in later. I never move on to the next word until I have a reasonable clue for it.

In my early days I often finished a puzzle except for one unclueable solution that made me have to start from scratch again. So I never leave a puzzle without each word inserted having a clue, as I found they kept me awake all night, struggling to find suitable clues.

I dislike clues that do not read well and spend time making them make sense. I try and write clues in the same way that I performed my comedy magic act, trying to entertain by misleading. If I have several clues I would usually opt for the one that might raise a smile. A lot of my early puzzles were set in between “takes” in TV studios or on location and I used to keep a book of the clues used. Eventually my sister-in-law copied all the clues onto a card index which has been added to over the years. I estimate there now must be 200,000 clues on file. This is often useful in difficulty as two or three clues may elicit a new one!

A 15x15 puzzle for the nationals, with typing out the clues and e-mailing, can take anything from 3-7 hours, with the average about 5.

Q9. How is it that even after almost 50 years of setting, you continue to think of fresh ways of clueing?

Roger: I think it may be because I don't solve regularly any more, as I sometimes found myself setting clues that were similar to clues used by other setters a few months previously. Now, when I see a word that fits in the grid, I think of a method of clueing then check my card index to see if I have clued the word similarly before. If I have and it is over ten years, say, I might make a minor tweak, but if within five years for this outlet, I try and find another approach. Looking at old clues on the cards for the word often enables me to produce a new clue based on two or three old ones. Some of my "new" clues may be based on "old" clues from 40 years ago! I am so glad I started keeping my index of clues - it is a great help in not repeating ideas, as well as sparking off new clues.

Q10. Your old pseudonym in the Independent - Icarus - is an acknowledgement of your miraculous escape from an air-crash. We’d love to know more.

Roger: On 9^th March 1961 I was acting as fighter-controller in an AEW Gannet aircraft about to land on HMS Hermes at sea off Ceylon – now Sri Lanka. The aircraft stalled at 300 feet, the right wing fell and broke off as we hit the sea, turning us upside-down. As we sank we could hear the ship’s propellors very near to us. I pulled the lever that should blow off the small door to the controllers’ compartment – the size of the two front seats of a small car – but no movement resulted. I took off my parachute and, as the water covered my face, hung from the roof kicking at the door. As the incoming sea-water equalized the sea pressure outside, the door floated away. I took a last breath from the small pocket left above me and dived out. Once free of the aircraft I inflated my mae-west and rapidly moved upwards in darkness. I recall a huge feeling of delight as the light became brighter and brighter and popped up so fast only my feet didn’t leave the water. My eyes suddenly blurred as aviation fuel covered my eyes but on wiping them clear I could see the rescue helicopter hovering above me. Two minutes later I was back on board. Sadly the pilot had been killed.

It was established by later investigation that I escaped from over 60 feet below the surface. At no time during the crash did I feel frightened or worried; I just followed the actions learned in repeated training. For days afterwards, every time I leant forward water gushed out from my sinuses which was somewhat embarrassing. It was only later that I realised how lucky I was. Before the accident I was a bit of a worrier, but since then I have take life far more light-heartedly.

Q11. We are glad you lived! What else would you count as turning points in your life?

Roger: There have been three:

WWII. As well as sparking my wish to see the world, it gave children of my age, 7, a great deal of extra freedom. Fathers and schoolteachers joined the forces, many mothers took over their jobs, so that children of my age had to rely on themselves. There was an enormous spirit around, of everyone feeling we were all in the war together. We spent time collecting waste paper etc, helping to raise money for Spitfires, taking part in Gang Shows to entertain workers in the local factories – as if they weren't suffering enough. Later, as a patrol-leader in the Boy Scouts I acted as a messenger at our village railway station when the D-Day wounded arrived to be sent to various hospitals. We youngsters felt very proud to be given the chance to help the war effort.

My introduction to the Royal Navy at HMS Ganges, the notorious Boys' Training Ship. Punishments still included the lash, boys were made to run the gauntlet between two rows of boys hitting them with “Stonakers” - a short length of rope with a spliced hard ball on the end – for minor misdemeanours. Every week everyone had to climb over the ex-sailing ship HMS Ganges’ mast erected on the parade ground, several feet higher than Nelson’s Column, including hanging by ones hands while traversing the mast’s elbows. Lavatory cubicles were without doors to avoid malingering etc. Two boys died when they were hauling a gun carriage up and down a steep hill because the class turned up late for instruction. It certainly taught me to consider the consequences of actions!

My second marriage. In 1981, having just made it into the FT and Guardian and taken over crossword editing for the Birmingham Post, I was struggling somewhat bringing up two young boys on my own, when I met a lovely lady at the Squash Club. We finally got together in 1983. Anna says she always remembers the date - July 4th Independence Day - as the day she lost hers. She is highly organised and practical, as befits one who had top management jobs in Relate (Marriage Guidance) etc with a number of degrees, and is caring, a great cook and straight as a die. I am sure I would not still be setting crosswords full-time so near to my 80th birthday without her love and support.

Anna brought along her daughter Tamsin, three years-old, to live with us. After two boys she was a delight to have! All the children, Simon, Michael and Tamsin, went to local Comprehensive schools so that we are enormously proud of their achievements. Simon is now a Yacht-master, Michael is a Vet running his own practice, and Tamsin will shortly be a NHS consultant. We are looking forward this coming weekend to visiting Mike and wife Charlotte and our two delightful grandchildren in Sheffield, Esme and Oscar.

Q12. Were you the first to use the classic anagram (PRESBYTERIANS)* = Britney Spears?

Roger: I occasionally provide the Church Times with themed religious puzzles. Having used the anagram “Best in prayers” to clue PRESBYTERIANS a few puzzles before, I was looking for a new anagram. Playing with the letters, I saw BRITNEY come up, leaving SPARES, and immediately saw the connection.

This crossword was set in November 2000, published in January 2001. Being me, I also used the clue in the same year in the Daily Telegraph when its appearance sparked some comment on the Letters’ Page.

Last year, reading the blogs, I noted that at least two other setters had been cited by the bloggers as the first to use it. The next time I was in contact with them I mentioned this and they both immediately said they had been told the anagram but, not knowing it had been used in a puzzle before, also used it. So, unless anyone can show me its use in a crossword before January 2001 I should like to claim its first use!

Q13. If the crossword editor told you: "Enough of your easy puzzles Roger, give us a really tough crossword this time." - will you deliver?

Roger: I am sure I could provide a more difficult puzzle, but I don’t think I would enjoy setting one. There are many more setters with the ability to deliver difficult crosswords than I. Remember, above, “I try to entertain”!

Q14. You have a special talent for the “cryptic definition” clue type. This is a risky clue type to attempt, is it not?

Roger: Cryptic definition clues were very common in the 1950s and 60s when I first became interested in crosswords and my magic act was full of corny puns, e.g. “You will see there are no rabbits up my sleeve (baring an arm) – just a few hares” (hairs); “This is not really a magic pistol, it’s a horse pistol – I raised it from a Colt”. I have been told by 3 crossword editors that one of the reasons they keep me on because few other setters use cryptic definitions nowadays.

Q15. Tell us about your clue for the unclueable: the word Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

Roger: In 1979 the Queen visited the small town of Ironbridge in Shropshire, where I live, to join celebrations for the 200^th anniversary of the first ever bridge ever made from iron – which, of course, gave the community its name. The local council, Telford and Wrekin, produced a special edition of its newspaper and asked me to supply a special jumbo puzzle. Wales is not far away and the Times crossword editor at the time had a Guinness Record entry for the longest word ever used in a published crossword. So I included this famous name of a Welsh village in the puzzle – which was accepted as a new record by Guinness Records. I felt that it would be fairer for the solver to have an anagram of this long name, with few vowels:

Giggling troll follows Clancy, Larry, Billy and Peggy who howl, wrongly disturbing a place in Wales (58)

Not the world’s best anagram!

Q16. Which puzzles do you solve?

Roger: Keeping up my outlets seem to take longer and I don’t solve all that much nowadays. We have a bolthole in Lanzarote where we go for breaks in the Winter sun and for flight and leisure time I take out several Times, Guardian and Telegraph crosswords.

Q17. What is your favourite clue or puzzle, by another setter?

Roger: One clue that I think sparked off my love of cryptic definitions in my early days was one originally by Alec Robins (Custos in the Guardian) in the '70s, viz.

"A stiff examination" with the solution POST MORTEM.

Q18.Which crossword setters do you most admire?

Roger: I feel it invidious to select from the excellent set of present compilers in the nationals – the standard is so high. Among the setters I admired in the past must be Ruth Crisp and Dean Mayer (probably because I helped get them started again after they had dropped out), Bert Danher (always amusing, and with splendid anagrams), Ken Guy (who lived nearest to me) and Brian Greer (who helped me during my 10 years at The Times, and produces very clever puzzles).

Q19. Your message to your friends in crosswordland:

Roger: It is marvellous to have electronic sites like yours for people like me, working in isolation from home in a rather rural location, many miles away from other setters. I keep in touch now with the crossword world mainly on-line. So keep up the great work! With the Sloggers and Betters - the meetings of Bloggers and Setters - springing up all over the UK recently we are beginning a new wave of cross-germination.

Roger Squires in office. His Guinness record certificates are on the wall behind, his card indexes on either side on him. The cat comes in periodically through the window to supervise his work.

I hope you enjoyed Roger’s interview. I certainly did!
To read interviews of noted personalities from the world of crosswords, visit the Interviews page. - Shuchi