Crossword News February 2022
Last month our Prize Puzzle was Obi by Wan, a puzzle that
ended with a very pretty grid. The hint from down clues gives WORDS WINGS TO
BIRDS WINGS. Solvers were to use the letters in pairs to replace letters in the
two end columns forming birds in eight rows. The ninth pair was to be used
along with the title to make ROBIN, which had to be written under the grid.
Here are some of the comments from solvers.
A most enjoyable puzzle, thank you Wan. After getting a few answers I then found it
quite difficult to progress, not knowing which across clues had the removable
letters. So I concentrated on the down
clues and progressed from there. Some
words that were new to me (always a pleasure) made it a little more difficult
here and there. I had no idea of the
next stage until I had almost all of the down clue missing letters. I had wondered if 18a was a hint and so it
proved to be. THRUSH was easy to spot
then BIRD but that did not fit the letters removed from the cross clues. A nice PDM when I realised that the new
entries had ten letters each. The spare
RN neatly made the title into the 9th bird.
Very neat and most enjoyable. A
good start to the year.
What a fantastic puzzle! This might be my favourite
Crossword Centre puzzle so far. I had a completely full grid before the penny
dropped with quite a loud clunk! A fantastic construction; quite remarkable to
fit ten-letter birds in alternate rows without needing to resort to
anagramming/cycling etc. Thanks for the
puzzle,
This was an entertaining puzzle which didn't yield its
secret until quite late on. The double letters in the 9 across clues were
well-hidden - not knowing which clues made things harder! The extra letters in
the downs gave a suitably cryptic message (which I hope I've correctly
interpreted!). All in all, a pretty good puzzle - clever of Wan to find enough
suitably 'alterable' 10 letter birds and even cleverer to distribute them
evenly. Let's not forget the ROBIN! Thanks!
There were 52 entries, of which 2 were marked wrong. Those
solvers who wrote ROCK PIGEON were marked correct. The lucky winner, picked
from the electronic hat, was Michael Crapper, from Whitchurch, who will soon be
receiving his prize of a copy of Chambers Crossword Dictionary which is donated
by the publishers.
There is a solution to Obi at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2022/02/solution-to-obi-by-wan.html
There is still lots of time for you to solve our February
puzzle, Missing Letters by Conto. https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2022/01/crossword-centre-prize-puzzle-february.html
Our March Prize Puzzle will see a return of popular setter,
Chalicea, with Endless Shame. We will be welcoming submissions of puzzles for
the summer months.
***
Although it was twice cancelled, Richard Heald has announced
that there will be a special lunch at Wolfson College, Oxford, on Saturday 28th
May to celebrate the 50th anniversary this year of the Azed crossword in The
Observer. The price of the lunch will be £60 per head, and will include a
three-course meal plus wine, followed by afternoon tea at Azed's house close to
the college. For further details and a booking form please contact heald.richard@googlemail.com.
***
Richard gets a mention in E. Dawid’s winning clue for BALDERDASH.
In clueing, R. Heald’s bad? Nonsense!
(anag.; ref. leading AZ competitor).
***
February is the month when last year’s statistics are published. We now know
the results of our Prize Puzzles for 2021. 104 solvers entered the competitions
and a grand total of 6 people managed to survive the 14 puzzles of 2021
unscathed. In descending order of total
all correct streak, they are:
Matthew Auger
Brian Betker
Andie Johnson
Philip Wood
Gerry Murtagh
Clive Walker
As the first three have already had possession of The Cup
and have since maintained their all-correct run, the Crowther Cup passes to the
next longest all-correct which is Philip Wood, so hearty congratulations to Philip!
Just behind the top 6 were the following, with just one
error in the year:
Keith Williams
Tony Harker
John Reardon
This year entrants can request their individual records for
the full year 2021 if they so wish. They
should email Robert Teuton toots@tinyworld.co.uk
Please keep separate from competition entries and please be patient.
***
The results are now in for the voting on Inquisitor puzzle of the year 2021. In
top place was Character Assassination by eXtent, the team of eXternal and
Serpent, It was based on Mark Dunn’s “progressively lipogrammatic” novel Ella
Minnow Pea, in which letters intermittently dropping from the pangram on a
monument are banned from use on the isle of Nollop. In second place was Clue
Two V by eXternal closely followed by Hedge-sparrow with Fieldwork. You can see
all the results at http://www.fifteensquared.net/2022/01/22/inquisitor-review-of-the-year-2020-21/
***
More results are posted in the Magpie. A select group of super solvers got all
72 puzzles correct in 2021.
1= Daniel Angel 12 12 72 [210.3]
1= Tim Burt 12 12 72 [204.2]
1= Shirley Curran 12 12 72 [207]
1= Andrew Dunn 12 12 72 [213.2]
1= James Leaver 12 12 72 [212.4]
1= Simon Melen 12 12 72 [210.5]
1= Sara Rae 12 12 72 [213.3]
1= John Reardon 12 12 72 [194.6]
1= Keith Sutherland 12 12 72 [211.3]
1= Don Thompson 12 12 72 [204]
1= Clive Walker 12 12 72 –
1= Philip Wood 12 12 72 [204.5]
***
On our clue-writing site the results are out for the 2021 season.
Congratulations to John Tozer who came top in a close tussle with Tom Borland.
You can see all the results here http://www.andlit.org.uk/cccwc/ann_results.php?year=2021
John only made it with his winning anagrams for the Christmas Boxed Set.
Cue: Bring Presents / Demand Santa Hat / Turkey Dead,
Chablis On Hand
(Bruce Springsteen/Adam and the Ants/Ian Dury and the
Blockheads
***
Congratulations to John Grimshaw. The Times Concise Jumbo No. 1539 was the 1000th
that John had created since his first on January 3 2004.
***
Since its inception a few months ago, the word game Wordle has enjoyed
exponential success. It has been announced that the game’s inventor, Josh
Wardle, has sold his game to the New York Times. He has promised that the game
will continue to be free and that your scores and streaks will be maintained
after the change.
https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/jan/31/wordle-new-york-times-buys
However, it seems that there are two versions of Wordle each
day as well as a half dozen copies and expansions such as Quordle.
***
The Listener statistics will be announced at the annual dinner in Stirling. I
will not be going to the dinner this year due to debilitating arthritis/carpal
tunnel pains.
Best wishes
Derek
