Crossword News June 2023
The May Prize Puzzle was Coronation by Chalicea and it was
planned to coincide with the coronation of King Charles III. Extra letters gave
'Shade forty-five cells: four places and an iconic item once in each'. Solvers
were required to highlight THE STONE OF DESTINY (that sits under the King's
throne at the coronation) and SCONE, WESTMINSTER, ARBROATH and EDINBURGH.
Here are some of the comments from solvers.
A timely puzzle.
Pleasingly simple. WESTMINSTER,
ARBROATH and EDINBURGH were easily spotted.
A little online reading revealed the name of the stone, and there it was
on the principal diagonal. That was 41
shaded cells, so a little more reading was required to find the fourth
placename. An extra letter produced by
the wordplay tends to lead to slightly too many 'anagrams plus one' or
'containers plus one', making the solution fairly straightforward. I shouldn't complain. It's the first CC crossword I've completed
this year.
This was an enjoyable puzzle with a straightforward end
(although Arbroath took a bit of finding). I liked the travelling of the stone
on its journey up and down the country (it was interesting to read about it on
the internet). Thanks, Chalicea.
As always with Chalicea, an enjoyable and not too difficult
solve with smooth-reading clues and a lot of thematic material both extracted
from the clues and in the grid. Thanks to the Crossword Centre and Chalicea.
There were 55 entries, of which 4 were marked incorrect. The
lucky winner, picked from the electronic hat, was Mark Roberts from Hostert in
Luxembourg.
There is a full solution at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2023/06/solution-to-coronation-by-chalicea.html
This month you have lots of time to complete Full of Beans
by Road Gamer. Note that there was an error in the preamble for the first 24
hours of publication which has now been rectified.
The July Prize Puzzle will be Gravest by Stick Insect. We
have puzzles for August and September now but always welcome submissions for
the autumn.
***
When solvers saw that Paul’s Guardian crossword was a tribute to a departed
friend, it came as a shock to see that it was Roger Squires. Roger was a
prolific crossword setter and was famous for his mentions in the Guinness Book
of Records. As the setter Rufus, he delighted solvers with his Monday
crosswords. I met him many years ago and was impressed by his honesty and
friendliness. Afterwards, he continued to supply me with information and he
wrote the page about himself. I shall miss him.
http://www.crossword.org.uk/rsquires.htm
Hugh Stephenson wrote the obituary in the Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/2023/jun/14/rufus-roger-squires-obituary
***
It was also sad to hear of the
death of Big Dave, an influential crossword blogger and a huge personality. He
set up Big Dave's Crossword Blog in 2009 and it became a popular spot for
solvers seeking hints in Telegraph crosswords. He encouraged new setters and
many published their first attempts on his Rookie Corner. He will be
sadly missed.
There is a full tribute with many comments on the Big Dave site. http://bigdave44.com/2023/06/01/big-dave/
***
The 18th June marked the 4000th edition of the Observer’s
Everyman crossword. Alan Connor wrote a tribute. https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/2023/jun/18/forget-wordle-and-sudoko-how-the-observers-crossword-has-stood-the-test-of-time
***
Several people showed an interest in the book I have written on my friendship
with the crossword setter, Apex. I am pleased to announce that I will be able
to have the book ready for purchase on the 5th July. A press release
is available at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/p/the-apex-letters.html
If you wish to buy a copy, please email me and I can send
you details of how to pay.
Best wishes
Derek
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