Crossword News March
2025
The February Prize
Puzzle was Defeat by Chalicea. Extra letters gave ‘DIED FOR YOUR WEE BIT HILL
AND GLEN’ Scotland’s unofficial national anthem, sung by the CORRIES, refers to
Edward’s defeat by Robert the Bruce’s men at Bannockburn. They ‘sent him
homeward to think again’
Here are some of the
comments from solvers.
Chalicea always
provides entertaining fare. We were delayed a while in looking at the lyrics of
the Corries' 'Bannockburn' before realising we needed to look elsewhere
- we didn't know the Corries also wrote 'Flower of Scotland'! An
enjoyable solve. Thanks to Chalicea and
the Crossword Centre.
Some clever touches
from Chalicea, unco as an anagrind for example.
With the multiple Scottish references in the clues, including Robert the
Bruce, and especially if you were familiar with the thematic song, the unclued
perimeter and entries were easily filled, all making the puzzle slightly too
easy.
Amazed by how many
Scottish words Chalicia managed to squeeze into this crossword as well as all
the thematic words. Her skill as a setter keeps getting better. Unfortunately I
hate that song! PS I'm Scottish.
There were 58
entries, of which 4 were marked incorrect. The lucky winner was David Gogol,
who will be receiving a prize of a copy of Chambers Crossword Dictionary, which
was donated by Chambers.
There is a full
solution and notes at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2025/03/solution-to-defeat-by-chalicea.html
There is still time
to solve the March puzzle, Round Robin XVII and email your entry. Do not forget
to vote for your favourite clues. https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2025/02/march-2025-prize-puzzle-rr-xvii-round-up.html
The April puzzle
will be Tan Goes So Stripey by Vismut. Entries for this must be submitted via a
link on the puzzle. Adam Vellender has devised an amazing utility for marking
entries and recording comments. We have been testing it and it works
beautifully. My advice would be to solve the puzzle with pencil and paper and
then copy it into the grid for submission. We were the first to accept email
entries and I think that this will make the marker’s job much easier.
We would still
welcome any crossword submissions for later months.
***
The 2025 Listener Crossword Dinner was held in the Waterfront Hotel, Southport
on the 15th March. After the dinner it was time for the speeches. Jim
Coulson (Jago) began with a tribute to John Green, who had been the marker for
Listener crosswords for almost 40 years. Unfortunately, John was not present to
receive his award of an engraved real ale tankard and a cheque for £8000.
Jane Teather read
the excuses for absence and announced that there would be four obituaries.
Sadly, Charles
Curran had died in November. He was an avid crossword solver and had won, with
his wife Shirley, the Silver Salver in 2017.
There was a tribute
to Andy Stewart (Dysart) who died last year. Starting to compose quite late in
life, he had a prodigious output, with 20 Listener, 15 IQ, 6 EV and 22 Magpie
puzzles. He had moved to Thailand and enjoyed his hobby of photographing birds
in his trips into the jungle.
Mick Hodgkin gave a
tribute to Richard Rogan who had died of a heart attack in June. As well as being
crossword editor for the Times, Richard composed crosswords for the Times and
for the Listener as Aragon. Some of the best of his crosswords were published
anonymously in the Times following a rule that Richard insisted upon. The Times
Crossword of Friday 14 March was one of Richard’s, a puzzle that gained much
praise from Simon Anthony. His Listener puzzles showed incredible ingenuity and
variety. Mick pinpointed one, Pub Crawl, with its superb preamble and
execution.
Shane Shabankareh
stood up to present the awards. The Radix Auditorium is awarded to the most
successful new solver and this year it went to Joe Baldwin. He solved his first
Listener at no. 4812 and followed with 29 correct entries.
The Solver Silver
Solver is awarded to the solver with the longest record of all-correct
solutions who has not been a winner previously. This year with a record of 241
correct entries the winner was Keith Williams who was not present.
The fourth obituary
was for Alan Scott (Ascot) who died in May. It was he who awarded the Ascot
Gold Cup. From 1977 he set 23 Listener crosswords plus 2 in collaboration with
Mass. In the mid-80s he took over the Everyman puzzles in the Observer from
Alec Robins.
21 all-correct
solvers voted for their favourite puzzles of 2024. Shane read out the results
in reverse order.
10 Free for All by
Toffee
9 Summertime by Harribobs
8 A Royal Tour by Agricola
7 Parentage in USA by Tringa
6 Brilliant by Brock
5 Second to Last by Karla
4 Creature Feature by Sabre
3 Ready Now by ‘Eck
2 Bygone Characters by Shark
And the winner was
By George! By Enigmatist, the puzzle based on the mathematical titles of albums
by Adele and Ed Sheeran. An emotional John Henderson received the Ascot Gold
Cup.
The table quiz was based on the fact that Lee Mack and (the novelist) David
Mitchell were born in Southport which was also the home of Red Rum. Tables were
asked to write a clue to John Green. Table 8 won the Bronze Casket with this
clue.
Can my knight
capture rook, checking king
There is a copy of
the quiz on Fifteen Squared. https://www.fifteensquared.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Listener-Dinner-2025.pdf
Finally, Steve
Bartlett was awarded the Inquisitor prize for his puzzle, Battle of the
Sausages.
There was a hint
that next year’s venue will be on the south coast. Rumour has it that Listener
statistics will be issued by email.
Thanks to John and
Jane for organising such an excellent event. It was a pleasure to meet up with
lots of friends in a fine hotel.
***
Phi published his annual APEX (A Phi Every Xmas) puzzle in December. It was a
Playfair crossword and solvers had to write a clue to CANDY STORE. The results
are now published.
1st Source of sweets
- or centre for dental decay, sadly John Hood
2nd Actors deny working for US establishment that targets kids Mark O’Connor
3rd Try a second brittle here Mark Oshin
My clue came 5th
out of the 37, just behind 4th placed Richard Heald.
***
The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament will be taking place for the 47th
time on the weekend of the 4th to 6th April. It will be
directed, as usual, by Will Shortz. You can find all the details at this link. https://www.crosswordtournament.com/
***
The Azed Slip with the results for ANCIENTS is now on the Crossword Centre. The
winner was A. Plumb:
Cineast sadly
screening last of golden oldies
(n in anag.)
http://www.crossword.org.uk/Azedslip.html
***
Sowmya Ramkumar has sent me details of the World Cryptic Crossword
Championship.
Extra C, the
organization behind the Indian Crossword League (IXL) is delighted to invite
you to the World Cryptic Crossword Championship (WCCC), a premier global event
for cryptic crossword lovers. This exciting championship will take place in
London and promises a day of challenging puzzles, camaraderie, fun, and prizes
for solvers of all levels.
Event Details
• Date: 28th June 2025 Online Individual Championship on crypticsingh.com
• Date: 29th June for the Team Championship (World Cup)
• Venue: The Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley Street, London
• Eligibility: Open to all crossword enthusiasts worldwide• Website:
wccc.crypticsingh.com
What to Expect:
1. Individual Championship:
Test your individual skills against the best solvers from around the globe.
Show off your talent and compete for the coveted title of Individual and Team WCCC
Champion!
2. Team Event:
Participate as a one-member team, collaborate and solve challenging puzzles
together, and showcase your collective brainpower.
How to Participate:
Visit wccc.crypticsingh.com
to register as an individual for the online contest on 28th June or as a
one-member team.
***
Best wishes
Derek
