Crossword News April 2020

Crossword News April 2020

The March Prize Puzzle was Rare Achievements by Hedge-sparrow. The theme is woman scientists who have won the NOBEL PRIZE for PHYSICS.  As of 2019, out of a total of 212 individuals who have received the Nobel Prize for Physics, only three have been women: Marie CURIE (1903, for her work on RADIATION, partnered by Pierre CURIE); Maria GOEPPERT MAYER (1963, for her work on NUCLEAR SHELLS, partnered by J. Hans D. JENSEN); Donna STRICKLAND (2018, for her work on ultrashort OPTICAL PULSES, partnered by Gérard MOUROU). 

Here are some of the comments from solvers.

An enjoyable solve with an interesting theme. Over 40% of the grid contained thematic material, which is commendable. PDM at just the right time. The 'clashes' added extra interest. 4a was very neat!  Thanks, Hedge-sparrow.

This was a very interesting puzzle with quite a few thematic elements included in both grid and clues.  Many a clue to savour, and use of an indication operator (ref hideous) to include extra letters raised a chuckle, one normally being conditioned to look for it in fodder.  Most yielded without difficulty, was more a question of parsing to identify redundant letters and clashes, which became progressively easier as the end game got obvious a little over half way through.  Most satisfying solve, thanks setter and organisers.

Thanks to Hedge-sparrow for an interesting puzzle. My early thoughts were that we were looking at people who had won more than one Nobel Prize, so it was instructive to find out how few women had won the prize for Physics. Overall, I thought the puzzle was not too difficult, but looking back over the clues I had trouble remembering how several of the word plays had worked, so perhaps not that easy.

Thankyou Hedge-sparrow. Your puzzle was itself a rare achievement!

There were 60 entries, of which 13 were marked incorrect. The lucky winner, picked from the electronic hat was R J Green, from Crickhowell in Wales, who will be receiving a copy of Chambers Crossword Dictionary which was donated by Chambers. I am unable to get to a post office at the moment so there will be some delay in posting prizes.

There is a solution available at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2020/04/solution-to-march-prize-puzzle.html

The April Prize Puzzle is our Round Robin XII. You can download a PDF copy at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2020/03/crossword-centre-prize-puzzle-april.html

The May Prize Puzzle will be Free Hit by Rebus. Rebus are Susan and Patrick. We met in London but now live just north of Sydney. We have always solved crosswords together and enjoy the Listener in particular. The harder the better! We started compiling for a local newspaper over 20 years ago and have both taught classes in “How to do Cryptic Crosswords” at various places over the years.

We would welcome submissions for the summer months. I would also remind setters that the Crossword Club magazine is still being produced by the long-serving Brian Head. It appears that he is also short of puzzles and any submissions would be greatly appreciated.
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Paul Henderson has continued to send a puzzle every Xmas, following the series set up by Apex. Last December he sent a clever crossword and solvers had to write a clue to TIDEWAITER (a customs officer). The results of the clue-writing competition are now published and the top three are:-

Winning clues to TIDEWAITER

1st Work to correct returns with unusually irate taxman Andrew Bremner

2nd Do I wade aboard tug with terms of excise order? Tim Moorey

3rd Veteran duty officer drops key into bank Richard Morse

Phi has published the 2019 Apex puzzle now and you can try it at http://phionline.net.nz/apex-crosswords/
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The Latin crossword in the Times appears every Saturday. O Tempora! is devised by classicist Paul McKenna, who also forms part of the Mephisto team. In the Quinqennium magazine, Paul explains how he compiles the Latin puzzle. http://www.quinquennium.com/cacoethes-oblectandi-how-i-devise-a-times-latin-crossword/
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With everyone in self-isolation there has been an increase in the number of people doing crosswords. The Magpie magazine has opened the firewall to allow solvers to access some of their top-class puzzles. You can access them here https://www.piemag.com/category/public/sample-puzzles/
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Cracking The Cryptic has released two Puzzle Hunts : one for children, one for adults. If you're looking for something entertaining to do during self-isolation these are worth a look:

Junior Puzzle Hunt: https://www.patreon.com/posts/junior-puzzle-35361588

Adult Puzzle Hunt: https://www.patreon.com/posts/35368855
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Telegraph puzzles editor, Chris Lancaster, has started a series of articles giving advice on solving cryptic crosswords. The articles are behind the Telegraph firewall but you may be able to get a month’s access for free.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/life/solve-cryptic-crossword-tips-beginners-puzzles-editor/?fbclid=IwAR05evJ6lsbZJd7cNIagr409WLH5KPB8hS-zmi2XKfm0V1ulu7oty72lMAg
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With the approach of Azed’s 2500^th puzzle DRC has published a puzzle which contains 8 of his favourite clues from Azed competitions. You can try it at this link - http://www.clueclinic.com/index.php/2020/03/29/azed-a-2500-deza-vu/
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Crossbar is a solving aid which claims to solve clues. It is a free site with no adverts so worth trying. I would be grateful for any comments or reviews of https://eobar.org/Crossbar.php

Best wishes
Derek

Stay safe.