The December Prize Puzzle was Seasons Greetings XV
by Eclogue. I SAW THREE SHIPS sounded like EYESORE (BLOT, STYE) TREE (GEAN,
NEEM) SHAPES (SQUARE, TRIANGLE). Three
triangles are to be drawn through ARGO, MARY ROSE and THE MAYFLOWER to produce
the Christmas tree image.
Here are some of the comments from solvers.
I thought that this was a really fun and clever
puzzle, possibly my favourite so far in Eclogue’s seasonal series. I was
completely mystified by ABC until I read the theme words out loud - a wonderful
PDM! Spotting the 3 ships took a little time but it was obvious where to start
looking and the final picture is very Christmassy (despite me completing it in
January!). Thanks Eclogue - looking forward to seeing what you have planned for
2024...
A superb and delightful puzzle. Wacky,
seasonal and extremely clever. The fog
gradually rose from the obscure preamble to reveal a broad smile oh the face of
any solver. 'Eyesore tree shapes'
indeed! Meaningless until spoken out
loud, then so obvious. A large amount of
thematic material in the grid.
A gentle but fun end to 2023, which is as it
should be. The grid-fill was steady, and the only delay came when wondering how
ships of different lengths could delineate congruent triangles, which of course
have perimeters of identical lengths. So 10/10 for English, but you lose a mark
for the maths. Many thanks to Eclogue and the Crossword Centre.
There were 51 entries, of which 13 were marked
incorrect. The lucky winner, picked from the electronic hat, was Clive Walker
of London, who will be receiving a prize book which has been donated by
Chambers.
There is a full solution at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2024/01/solution-to-seasons-greetings-xv-by.html
You still have time to solve and enter our January
challenge, Untitled by Hawk. https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2023/12/crossword-centre-prize-puzzle-january.html
The February Prize Puzzle will be Annus Mirabilis
by Phylax.
Thanks are due to John Nicholson for designing our next Round Robin and to the
volunteer clue writers who contributed. You will get a chance to try Round
Robin XVI in March.
***
Congratulations are due once again to Mark Goodliffe! No, we have not held a secret Times Crossword Championship to restore him to
the throne. On Friday Mark became a Countdown octochamp,
a title given to the winner of eight consecutive rounds of the popular
long-running Channel 4 game show.
In his last game against Laura Gilbert, Mark came
from behind to win 105-82. In an early round his HANGOUTS was disallowed
because it has a hyphen in the dictionary. He impressed even Susie Dent in
dictionary corner by coming up with EQUANTS, a mathematical concept developed
by Ptolemy in the 2nd century.
It is possible to watch Mark’s final show on
Channel 4 - https://www.channel4.com/programmes/countdown/on-demand/75050-207
***
Nimrod has given an excellent review of the IQ puzzles of 2023. Unfortunately,
by the time you read this, it will be too late to vote.
https://www.fifteensquared.net/2023/12/30/179828/
***
Paul Pridmore sent me this interesting quote from a book published in 1938.
MILITARY
CRYPTANALYSIS, PART I. MONOALPHABETIC SUBSTITUTION SYSTEMS by WILLIAM F.
FRIEDMAN
Principal
Cryptanalyst, Chief of Signal Intelligence Section, War Plans and Training
Division
From
the INTRODUCTORY REMARKS:
The present author deems it advisable to add
that the kind of work involved in solving cryptograms is not at all similar to
that involved in solving "cross-word puzzles", for example. The wide
vogue the latter have had and continue to have is due to the appeal they make
to the quite common instinct for mysteries of one sort or another; but in
solving a cross-word puzzle there is usually no necessity for performing any
preliminary labor, and palpable results become evident after the first minute
or two of attention. This successful start spurs the cross-word
"addict" on to complete the solution, which rarely requires more than
an hour's time. Furthermore, cross-word puzzles are all alike in basic
principle and once understood, there is no more to learn. Skill comes largely
from the embellishment of one's vocabulary, though, to be sure, constant
practice and exercise of the imagination contribute to the ease and rapidity
with which solutions are generally reached.
***
Thanks to Fred Safier I have learned that Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon have
retired. Their last puzzle in the Wall Street Journal was December 17. Often
publishing puzzles under the pseudonym Hex, they wrote the "Atlantic
Puzzler", a monthly cryptic crossword in The Atlantic magazine, from
September 1977 to October 2009. They continued with puzzles in the Sunday Globe
and the Wall Street Journal. They were pioneers in US crosswords and their
puzzles in the Atlantic used barred grids and clever themes.
They
will be missed. I wish them a happy retirement.
All their puzzles from the Atlantic and the
Journal are archived at www.coxrathvon.com.
***
On the CCCWC your first challenge for 2024 is a STANDARD CRYPTIC clue to AMAZON
(6) by the closing date of MIDNIGHT GMT WEDNESDAY 31st JANUARY.
http://www.andlit.org.uk/cccwc/main.php
In the competition for a clue to WASHINGTON Philip
Sant won with this.
What guy's face, and name, is on bucks?
Anagram what +g + n + is on
***
The latest Azed slip is available now on the Crossword Centre. The Christmas
puzzle was a Spoonerism special and the winning clues are a master class in
writing a Spoonerism definition of FLÂNEUR.
http://www.crossword.org.uk/Azedslip.html
***
My clue of the week is Mick Hodgkin’s topical cryptic clue.
Job held by Mr Bates, mistreated
after snafu internally suppressed (3-10)
***
Home decorating has meant a lot of clearing out. I have found some old
crossword books that I have put up for sale if anyone is interested.
https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/p/rare-books.html
***
Best wishes
Derek
Topical clue SUB-POSTMASTER S(naf)U (POST (job) in
anag. MR BATES. Ref. Mr Bates in the Horizon post-office scandal.
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