Crossword News February 2022

 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.
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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.
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Richard gets a mention in E. Dawid’s winning clue for BALDERDASH.

 In clueing, R. Heald’s bad? Nonsense! (anag.; ref. leading AZ competitor).
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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.
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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/
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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]
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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
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Congratulations to John Grimshaw. The Times Concise Jumbo No. 1539 was the 1000^th that John had created since his first on January 3 2004.
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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.
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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