Crossword News April 2026
The March Prize
Puzzle was our 18th Round Robin, Tour Party by Arcadia. It was a
carte blanche grid in which words in each of the four quadrants were entered in
a different direction. The key to getting it right was to solve the 12 letter
entries which could only join in one way. Solvers had to ‘show up’
congratulations on his achievement, which was CHAPEAU TO WAN. In the end we
decided that highlighting was optional.
Here are some of the
comments from solvers.
Arcadia is to be
commended for such an ideal grid for Round Robin purposes - no clue gimmicks
and answers all of 6 letters deftly avoids any issues of some setters being
luckier than others as to what they're given. I do worry with these puzzles
that the range of clues is going to be off (which can't be helped, presumably),
but it did feel remarkably balanced, and the solving experience was a very
enjoyable one. And choosing to honour a particular setter makes for a beautiful
theme, especially one as universally admired as Wan. Thank you Arcadia (and to
all my fellow contributors!)
I noticed that in
each quadrant the two answers starting in the corner of the grid must have the
same first letter, and their third, fourth, fifth and sixth letters are
collectively the first letters of the other eight answers in that quadrant, and
a similar thing was true for the answers sharing their third, fourth, fifth or
sixth letters. I had solved six of the clues in Quadrant C so at least two of
these answers must cross on the diagonal which helped me to enter the answers I
had worked out find the rest of them. Then I was able to guess MAN OF LETTERS
and, after much more thought, TABULAE RASAE, and I managed to fit Quadrants B
and D around these 12-letter entries. It took me a while to guess the other two
12-letter entries, especially CHAPEAU TO WAN since I hadn't thought the
cruciverbalist would be explicitly named and I don't know if there is a
particular reason for dedicating the puzzle to Wan or if he is just a setter
with a three-letter name. I found the appropriate definition of SMOCKS in Chambers
and for a while thought that "An indication of little ones in a delivery
system?" was a cryptic definition clue using a non-obvious meaning of the
word, since I don't particularly think of smocks as being worn by pregnant
women. I had a good laugh when I realised it was -OCK in SMS, and it made me
think that writing an &lit clue does carry a risk of the solver not
realising what it is especially when it's for a clue-writing competition where
you don't get to explain your clue before it is judged.
With forty different
clueing styles, this was not a particularly easy solve, made trickier by the
need to cold solve 6 or 7 of the entries in each quadrant. With persistence,
the puzzle eventually yielded and the tribute to Wan very appropriate.
There were 52
entries and 47 were marked correct. The lucky winner, picked at random, was Ned
French, who will be receiving a copy of Chambers Crossword Dictionary which is
donated by Chambers.
Solvers were asked
to vote for their favourite clues. 32 of the 40 clues received at least one
point. The podium was as follows
1st (27pts): Insular
forest-dwellers Napoleon's first encountered in Elba? (N in IDRIS) INDRIS[Steve
Bartlett]
2nd (20pts): One acquiring tea leaves for ship's counter (PUR(cha)SER) PURSER [Adam
Vellender (Pandiculator)]
3rd= (19pts): Trump stops leaders of France and Spain overturning attack (FART
in F+S)< STRAFF[Charlie Oakley
(Quotient)]
3rd= (19pts): Initially damp hay spread with this could become dehydrated
(DEHYDRATED*-(D+HAY)* &lit) TEDDER [Brian Betker (buddy)]
I will be sending a
prize to Steve.
Thanks to Arcadia
for a superb grid and for organising the puzzle. There is a solution with notes
at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2026/04/solution-to-round-robin-xviii-tour.html
There is still time
to solve the April prize puzzle, Half-baked by Chalicea. https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2026/03/april-2026-half-baked-by-chalicea.html
The May challenge
will be Adorns Anew by Yimin.
***
It is sad to announce that John Tozer died on the 18th of March. John was a
dedicated writer of clues in the Azed competitions and set up the &lit
website, recording all of the slips by Ximenes and Azed. He was also the brains
behind the Crossword Centre clue-writing competition. I met John a few times
and found him most congenial and friendly. He persuaded me to type up some of
the Azed slips for the &lit website and he was a very diligent proofreader.
He never recovered
from the cardiac arrest that he suffered in 2022 and was increasingly ill. His
wife, Jane, and daughters, Mary and Lucy, are planning a quiet family funeral.
***
For anyone who hasn't yet seen it, here's the short Azed tribute film which was
premiered at the Observer's Crossword Centenary event last Thursday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z16h8bFr8MA
***
After the Listener Crossword Dinner, you can now download a copy of John
Henderson’s fiendish table quiz from Jane Teather’s Jetdoc
site.
Dimitriy Adamskiy shows the top five
Listener Crosswords of 2025 in this video.
https://youtu.be/n9hSPpzUjPU?si=d86VSQln5pKsDYgn
***
Barry Joseph, author of Matching Minds with
Sondheim, will be in London this month. He says:
APRIL 16 - NYU London
12:00 - 1:15: How To
Play The Sondheim Way: A Parlour Game Workshop (for NYU Students, but you can
join in). We’ll be playing Sondheim games and discussing his game design
values.
6:30 - 7:30: The
Puzzling Mind of Stephen Sondheim (free alum event open to the
public). Discover how Stephen Sondheim, best known as a composer and
lyricist, applied game design principles to shape social interaction, foster
emotional connection, and structure artistic expression. A lifelong puzzle
enthusiast, he didn’t just play games—he made them: treasure hunts, board
games, cryptic crosswords, parlor games, and more. Tixs and more
info here.
265 Strand,
London WC2R 1BH
April 19 - Sondheim Society
7:00 - 9:00pm:
Sondheim and The Game of Murder. Discover how Stephen Sondheim, a lifelong
puzzle enthusiast, didn’t just love games—he created them. His most ambitious,
The Murder Game, inspired the 1973 film The Last of Sheila, built on hidden
information and carefully designed social chaos. Blending live performance,
gameplay, and rare archival material, this presentation by Barry Joseph—author
of the new book Matching Minds With Sondheim—explores how Sondheim used rules
and puzzles to create tension, reveal character, and navigate vulnerability
across his work. Joining me is composer-lyricist and musical director Colm
Molloy, who shares a deep love of puzzles and Sondheim. Also featured are
Oliver Sidney (Addison Mizner in Road Show; No Such Thing As Wolves; You’re A
Good Man, Charlie Brown) and Rhys Lambert (Hollis Bessemer in Road Show;
DORIAN: The Musical; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), performing selections
from Sondheim’s work. Tixs and more info here.
Upstairs at the
Gatehouse - 1 North Rd, Highgate Village, London N6 4BD, United
Kingdom.
Dennis Caouki, my
podcast line producer, has graciously offered to help me coordinate a Sunday
(19th) lunch at a restaurant to bring us all together. If you would be free to
join, please email Dennis (dcaouki@gmail.com) .
***
Keith Williams is now in charge of the Crossword
Club. He has written to ask for a volunteer assistant and you might be able
to help.
“Since becoming the
sole editor in September 2025, I've had an opportunity to think in more detail
about the offerings, opportunities and vulnerabilities of the Club, from which
I am formulating a general 'direction of travel'. As we know, I am only the second
ever editor of this organisation, and it is one of my many aims to ensure that
I am not the last. One of the key vulnerabilities that Brian and I often spoke
of was the ability of the Club to fulfil its function to its members if one or
other of us became unavailable for reasons of IT- or human- frailty.
Fortunately, we never had to test the process until recently, but in reality,
there was always a potential difficulty were we (or our systems) to be
incapacitated for whatever reason. This has of course now been exacerbated by
administration, production and distribution coming back under the control of
just one person once again. While I'd like to think I can fulfil this role for
many years to come, it concerns me that the Club is currently devoid of a contingency
plan.
In that vein, I
would very much like to have the ‘safety net’ of having at least one
Editor-in-waiting', who would be able to pick up the reins and ensure the
continuity of the Club were I to be unable to do so, for whatever reason. It is
hoped that the Editor-in- waiting' would not be called upon for quite some
considerable time, but just having such a person and facility in place
(probably through a shared set of cloud files for example), would seem to me to
be a practical way to address the key vulnerability that the Club has once
again found itself facing. If you feel you may be that person, I would love to
hear from you.”
***
The 48th annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament starts on the
12th April. You can check on the results at this link. https://www.crosswordtournament.com/
Best wishes
Derek Harrison
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