Crossword News April 2025

 Crossword News April 2025

The March Prize Puzzle was RR XVII = Round Up. Extra letters produced by wordplay in the clues give SEARCH WITH FOUR SYM ENTRIES – TITLE OF BOOK – THE FEAT. The four symmetrical entries are FRANK HEATH GYPSY MOTH. Solvers had to change five entries to provide the title of Heath’s book FORTY MILLION HOOFBEATS and the feat FORTY-EIGHT STATES. The title cryptically suggests going round on horseback.

Here are some of the comments from solvers.

An ingenious puzzle with a theme previously unknown to us - very entertaining. Though not requested, we felt the need to highlight relevant entries.....We found the clues to be generally challenging with each contributor submitting a 'prize-winning' clue. The variety of clueing styles added to the trickiness, but all were fair and we think we've sorted them correctly.  Thanks to the setter and all contributors - good fun.

As usual with the Round Robin puzzles, this was a real mixture of clues which does make for an entertaining solve. I found a few of the extra letters difficult to tease out, making the end message a bit difficult to decipher but I got there in the end. The 4 most likely candidates for the book title soon leapt out and a bit of internet research provided the rest of the information. This was a totally new subject and interesting to read up on. The grid construction is impressive with the changed lights retaining real words which helps to confirm a correct solution.

Another great challenge, I completed the grid a fortnight ago but the final step eluded me until yesterday. I have to admit to a scientific approach of taking all the symmetrical quads then testing them with a google search, as I had never come across this pioneering story before! I'm glad I have now, because it's intrinsically interesting.

 

There were 41 entries, of which 15 were marked incorrect. 11 of the 15 errors involved ARIES for ARIEL...probably overlooking the wordplay - "bunch of letters" - that led to ARLA (Association of Residential Letting Agents) - not just a random bunch of letters.

The lucky winner, picked from the electronic hat, was Andrew Varney, who will be receiving a prize of Chambers Crossword Dictionary, which was donated by the publishers.

Solvers were asked to vote for their favourite clues. The clear winner, with 20 points, was the clue to DOWNBEATS by Jugular, Tim Coates.

Two bad ones, surprisingly they are the opposite of arses

2^nd SECRETA 15 points Geri Cashell
3^rd FRISKAS 14 points David Whyte
4^th TESLA 14 points Terrence Brennan
5^th MOORISH 11 points Colin Thomas

I will be sending Tim a prize copy of Armchair Crosswords by Afrit. Thanks are due to Wan for designing the grid and to all the volunteer clue-writers who make the Round Robin such a unique puzzle. The next Round Robin is already accepted for next year. This was the final puzzle for marker Robert Teuton and I am sure we would all like to thank him for his sterling work.

As usual, we welcome submissions of puzzles.
There is a solution at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2025/04/solution-to-round-robin-xvii-round-up.html

You still have time to solve our April puzzle, Tan Goes so Stripey by Vismut. The new entry system is working well and we have 27 entries so far. For anyone having problems entering a solution on a phone or tablet, you can now enter the answers and there is a box where you can describe the final grid.

https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2025/03/april-2025-prize-puzzle-tan-goes-so.html

The May Prize Puzzle will be Gig Economy by Wan.
***
The 47^th American Crossword Puzzle Tournament took place on the first weekend in April. The winner of the event was the 2024 champion, Paolo Pasco, who completed the final grid in 3 minutes 40 seconds. All the results are here https://www.crosswordtournament.com/2025/index.htm

A more personal account is from Adam Roberts.
https://amateurgourmet.substack.com/p/i-went-to-the-american-crossword
***
The Azed 2750 lunch will be held in Oxford on Saturday 3rd May. If you are unable to be there, Dave Tilley has volunteered to stream the event on Zoom.

Viewers should be able to tune in to see Azed and the guest speakers from around 15:45 using the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6528014392?pwd=aTF4ZnY1R0RsNkp3NmFocjltOSttQT09&omn=82029835893

Meeting ID: 652 801 4392

Passcode: 9673
***
Jane Teather has now put the Table Quiz from the Listener Dinner on her website.
https://www.jetdoc.co.uk/crossword-and-quiz-links
Shirley Curran has allowed us to see all her photos from the Dinner and in the pub on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194321761@N03/albums/72177720324458416/
***
LISTENER STATISTICS, plus a personal solving record, for last year may be requested by email to marker@listenercrossword.com, or by sending a stamped addressed envelope measuring at least 230mm×160mm (overseas stamp exempt) to N Aspland, 19 Fairfax Drive, Pontefract, WF8 1NU,
***
And finally, was there an April fool crossword this year?
https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2025/apr/07/the-guardians-april-fool-crossword-explained-plus-the-other-papers-fooling

Best wishes
Derek Harrison

Solution to Round Robin XVII - Round Up

 RR XVII Round Up - Solution

Extra letters produced by wordplay in the clues give SEARCH WITH FOUR SYM ENTRIES – TITLE OF BOOK – THE FEAT. The four symmetrical entries are FRANK HEATH GYPSY MOTH. Solvers had to change five entries to provide the title of Heath’s book FORTY MILLION HOOFBEATS and the feat FORTY-EIGHT STATES. The title cryptically suggests going round on horseback. 

April 2025 Prize Puzzle Tan Goes So stripey by Vismut

 Tan Goes So Stripey by Vismut

Every across clue has a redundant word to be removed before solving. Read in normal clue order the first and last letters are merged titles and a brand, all of which feature a character of the same heritage. Every down clue yields an extra letter from the wordplay not to be entered in the grid. Read in normal clue order these identify how and which cells to fill.

PDF copy

Across   

    4    Swallow frightful humour in posh pub (6, 2 words)

    13    Dressing mad billionaire inventor leaving Berlin in disarray (5)

    14    Currency seen in Frisco off in a gents (7)

    15    Coarse Egyptians belonging to sect? (6)

    16    Scale and slow viol putting first tango couple in last place (6)

    17    Grass, heroin and ecstasy - Fibonacci with space for whiskey (7)

    18    Dad and Georgia eavesdrop daughter called for (5)

    21    Cut mix of Yes and INXS cd to include cover of Touch (7)

    23    Peterborough’s widest wingers run about and have a shot in social division (7)

    24    German songs and Heidi story from the right socialist (6)

    27    Nuisance pochard caused terrible kerfuffle initially (7, two words)

    30    John tense after brothers brought back disease (6, two words)

    32    Supporters swap sides in impromptu runs (7)

    33    Most like chicken product nibble with longest limbs trimmed (7)

    37    Light tackling rule dropped for university match (5)

    39    Flying attack from Lindbergh frightened Irish hiding fighter plane (7)

    40    Estimate half of Orkney Island inside The Old Terrier (6)

    41    Bishop larked about, as light lowers for writer (6)

    43    Ask briefly inside Ocado about emergency room restorer  (7)

    44    Colder, more risqué Othello not without issue (5)

    45    Overlooking last of homework photos, dusk across Norway not posted (6)

Down

    1    Texture without note in African music (3)

    2    Idiotic Chile porn in cards (8)

    3    Giving up last month in failed drug administered (8)

    5    Era after lots crowned (7)

    6    Rodents spinning marble and rolling up lead eggs (9, two words)

    7    Something old-fashioned in Iceland’s images (5)

    8    Children decapitated mustelids (4)

    9    Access to north of the border gentian flowers (6)

    10    Noise from the tickled prisoner, that’s disgusting! (5)

    11    Round’s two under, score finally awry at St Andrews (5)

    12    Oddly overlooked shifted location’s old lock arrangement (9)

    19    Another open heart surgery, but not raging hunger for this! (9, two words)

    20    Raised amount to get a house in Provence (3)

    22    Below clue about priest I read about family of swimmers (9)

    25    Uncharitable grasping granny putting up old penny lavatory outside (8)

    26    Teases terribly hosting Aussie news for curvy stars (8)

    28    College god leading vibrant bands (7)

    29    Adolescent slid downhill, not the first (3)

    31    North American cocktail puts out 50% of lights (6)

    34    Turn lad protecting Earth sentimental (5)

    35    Parochial makes faces splurging out pig shed (5)

    36    Upside down lid over prince and wild goats (5)

    38    Razor found in Vandyke central (4)

    42    Rook’s piercing peck topped fluff (3)

Entries
To enter this competition, input your solution into the website at https://cc.vellender.com before 8th May 2025. The first correct entry drawn from the hat will receive a book from the Chambers range, which has been donated by Chambers.

Crossword News March 2025

 

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 15^th 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 5^th out of the 37, just behind 4^th placed Richard Heald.
***
The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament will be taking place for the 47^th time on the weekend of the 4^th to 6^th 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

 

Solution to Defeat by Chalicea

 Defeat by Chalicea - Solution

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’

Across: 9 Noma, 10 Lee, 12 Orca, 14 Ill-used, 15 Omrah, 16 Afaras, 17 Nirled, 18 Think again, 19 Assert, 24 Sneesh, 25 Emir, 26 Deism, 28 Bannockburn, 30 Iratest, 31 Tarrow. 

Down: 1 Omlah, 2 Waur, 3 Elsan, 4 Rees, 5 Flong, 6 Simian, 7 Corries, 8 Oral, 11 Edward, 13 Cheese, 20 Smirr, 21 Erato, 22 Reney, 23 Tense, 24 Sects, 27 Murl, 29 Kae. 

Across: 9 D: NOMA[D], 10 I: L(o)[I](T)E(r)E(d), 12 E: OR + CA[E], 14 D: [D]ILL USED, 15 F: (HARM O[F])<, 16 O: AFAR [O]ASIS less IS, 17 R: RINGLEADE[R]* less AGE*, 19 Y: (STA[Y]ERS)*, 24 O: S[O]N + first letters, 25 U: EM[U] I R, 26 R: DE[R] ISM, 30 W: (ARTIST [W]E)*, 31 E: T[E]AR ROW. 

Down: 1 E: (HAL[E] MO)<, 2 B: ([B]RAW (lo)U(ts))*, 3 I: (AL[I]ENS)*, 4 T: [T]REES, 5 H: [H]F LONG, 6 I: [I]S (t)IMI(d) AND less D(aring), 8 L: [L]ORAL, 13 L: CE around HEE[L]S, 20 A: SR around M[A]IR, 21 N: (esp)ERA[N]TO, 22 D: (NERDY E)*, 23 G: [G]EST< around EN, 24 L: SS around [L]ECT, 27 E: MUR[E] L, 29 N: (s)K(i)[N](c)A(r)E. 

March 2025 Prize Puzzle RR XVII Round Up

 RR XVII - Round Up

The wordplay in each clue renders an extra letter. These letters in clue order say how to find the ‘round up’ being celebrated and what should be produced in five entries by changing some of their letters (one new entry doing double duty). The final grid contains real words. The Chambers 13th edition is the primary reference.

PDF copy

Across

  1 The Waltz King has no right to entertain time standing (6)

  5 Ordinary fellows (two of them) relieve wound around old horse’s front leg (7)

11 I move in a slightly eccentric circle that is absorbed by a bunch of letters (5)

13 Cwm Rhondda’s opening fills man with passion (6)

14 A carcinogen halved warts and all skin disease (9)

15 Unconventional guys' hopes now and then followed by glory ultimately (5)

16 What rodent might fear in water rippling around grass from the East (8, 2 words)

17 General situation on new chaps coming over, feeling estranged (7)

20 Latest ugly truck (5)

21 After a fashion show, train lacking width is recycled (7, 3 words)

23 Calls for kisses with girlfriend not cross (5)

27 Noise from Jersey City getting quiet - typical of old people? (7)

28 Mood abnormality underlying noxious impulsive activity principally (5)

32 Quaver held by soprano's missing richness at first (7)

33 What managers do to one detected in idleness while playing (8)

34 Ruler, heading from extreme north, tracks a little lower to Fort William (5)

35 Grasping dynasty behind crime involving revolutionary painting (9)

36 One’s crazy about French sticks (6)

37 Only ten cheese sandwiches flipping radical (5)

38 Pink fruit having peel removed, after shelling eggs (7)

39 Cinnamon provides treatment of ascaris (6)

Down

  1 Kyoto menial with karate kit was up for gap left by carpenter (7, 2 words)

  2 Top-notch agent first to behold cocked weapon (9, 2 words)

  3 Rest and a short sleep brewing? One has nap after work (8)

  4 Flowing tears, etc? (7)

  6 Old ref: "It smashed the upper part of the foil!" (5)

  7 Quick dance parts; quick chance parts (7)

  8 Florida's gross, honest! (5)

  9 Kir Royale finally demolished: that is a sort of therapy! (5)

10 Take out England's opener by bowling Cotes (6)

12 Man of art went to get a little light (6)

18 Unfashionably dressed but having good prospects when king becomes God (5)

19 Two bad ones, surprisingly they are the opposite of arses (9)

22 Old American eyes pigmeat covered in pickles (8)

23 Section cut out from oil silk fitted inside soft, new cushion (7)

24 Pacific island captured by mad cretin following the end of Empire (7)

25 Business involving palms, donkey? Could be holy ride when penny drops (6)

26 Clobber messy ape eating nuts under leafy ash, primarily (7)

27 Partly dismiss fallacious religious book (6)

29 Yes, it takes a bit of bottle, prepared to do nothing when something bad's happening (5, 2 words)

30 Butterfly warm over centre of Sahara (5)

31 Judge pub - it gives spirit to Muslim (5) 

Entries
To enter this competition, send your entry as an image or in list format giving the final entries to ccpuzzles@talktalk.net before 8^th April 2025. The first correct entry drawn from the hat will receive a book from the Chambers range, which has been donated by Chambers.

 Voting
You may vote for your favourite clue with your entry. You can just nominate one clue, which will be awarded 3 points, or your top three which will be awarded 3, 2 and 1 points. The person whose clue accumulates the most points will receive a prize, which also has been donated by the Crossword Centre.

Clues by…
…Anax, Avtaar, Josie Barnes, Steve Bartlett, David Beamish, Rod Beards, Brian Betker, Terrence Brennan, Kieran Callaghan, Geri Cashell, Chalicea, Andy Grady, Simon Griew, Derek Harrison, Hawk, Helen Heath, Hedge-sparrow, John Hood, Jugular, Karla, Kevin McDermid, Toby McLeay, Rob Moline, Alf Mullins, Jonathan Owen, Bhalchandra Pasupathy, Jeff Pearce, Phylax, Ed Powles, Paul Pridmore, John Reardon, Simon Shaw, Ian Simpson, Peter Smith, William Snow, Colin Thomas, Andrew Varney, Adam Vellender, John Walsh, Luciano Ward, David Whyte and Dave Williams.  

Crossword News February 2025

 

Crossword News February 2025

The January Prize Puzzle was Twin Beaks by Jugular. This was based on a famous Guinness advert and the grid showed the toucan’s beaks and two pints of Guinness. Before Dorothy L. Sayers became a well-known crime novelist she worked as an advertising copywriter for S. H. Benson and worked on a campaign for Guinness where she is credited with the phrase:

"If he can say as you can Guinness is good for you How grand to be a Toucan Just think what Toucan do.”

An excellent start to 2025 with a puzzle that was widely enjoyed by just about everyone.  The highlighting of Dorothy L Sayers was a little ambiguous with two Ds close together and an extra L within the confines of the beak, so any version that spelt out the 14 cells required was marked correct.

Here are some of the comments from solvers.

This is the sort of puzzle that is definitely 'good for you'... The clues were neat, the theme novel and the end-game fun: I thought I'd leave a bit of head on the two shaded subjects.  Thanks to Jugular and the Crossword Centre.

I found this to be a very enjoyable puzzle with good clues and an interesting theme. I was aware of the connection between toucans & Guinness but didn’t know where it had come from so it was interesting to find this out.

Cork comedian and actor Niall Tóibín, used tell a joke about how an Irishman could be described as “a complex machine for converting Guinness into urine”, he would pause briefly in thought and follow it up with “which to a Murphy’s drinker is superfluous anyway”. While I have done no justice to his abilities as a storyteller, it was nice to be reminded of one of Cork’s greatest, by, ironically, a Dublin institution. Thanks to Jugular for the challenge and also for bringing back some great memories.

There were 55 entries, of which 7 were marked incorrect. The lucky winner, picked from the electronic hat was Alan Chamberlain, who will be receiving a prize of Chambers Crossword Dictionary which was donated by Chambers.

There is a solution with notes at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2025/02/solution-to-twin-beaks-by-jugular.html

There is still time to complete the February Prize Puzzle, Defeat by Chalicea.
https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2025/01/february-2025-defeat-by-chalicea.html

The March challenge will be our 17^th Round Robin puzzle, RR XVII – Round Up. The grid and the concept were the work of John Nicholson (Wan). He tells me that he has run out of ideas for these crosswords and wants someone else to take over. If you have an idea for a 2026 Round Robin, I would be very grateful. The only good thing is that you do not have to write the clues!

We would welcome submissions for later months.
***
Robert has produced the 2024 results for the Crowther Cup.

Checking and calculating the scores for this over the past month has thrown up a few more concerns regarding the issues with my email!  For instance, when I looked back at last January there were more entries than I had originally marked at the time.  I am confident that I now have the full information required for the results, but it has persuaded me even more that it would be a good thing going forward if we get a volunteer to take over! (Edited article to follow below).  Once again I am happy to provide individual records on request (email me at toots@tinyworld.co.uk), but for some I may not be able to respond until next week (I am still going through the year thoroughly to add in any "missing" entries).

Despite us posting just the 12 competition puzzles in 2024 only 3 competitors managed to survive the year intact!  Matthew Auger continued his long unbeaten run and he was joined by Ronan Cullinane and Christine Thomas.  As per the Listener, The Crowther Cup passes on to the best all correct solver who has not been on before, so it went to countback.  The final positions were:

1. Matthew Auger (last failure Dec 2015)

2. Christine Thomas (last failure Oct 2023)

3. Ronan Cullinane (last failure Dec 2023)

So congratulations to Christine Thomas who wins the Crowther Cup!

http://www.crossword.org.uk/crowther.html
***
The Clue-writing competition has been running for the past 17 years on the fantastic software designed by John Tozer for the Azed & lit site.  However, he is unable, for health reasons to change the site and since he fell ill we have been unable to accept new members - frustrating for those wishing to join and develop their clue-writing skills.  We know that there are many new people who would like to enter the competition. So we are suggesting moving back to the old method, where a manager receives the clues by email, sends out a list of the clues for voting, records the votes and composes a summary of the successful clues plus any comments, to then send out to the group each month. In this way, we could accept more new clue-writers. It is a shame to move away from the wonderful interface on the CCCWC website, but there is always the possibility that we may be able to resume there at some time in the future.  Robert Teuton has been managing the CCCWC for the past 25 years and he feels that it is time for someone else to inject renewed energy and enthusiasm into our long-running competition!

Since the inception of the Crowther Cup in 2015 Robert Teuton has also been marking our monthly crosswords, but he thinks it is time for a rest from that as well, so I am asking for a volunteer to take on the role of marking the monthly crosswords. It would mean checking around 30 to 70 entries per month, making a document of all the comments received and keeping a record of individual entries for the annual statistics.

If you would be willing to take on either of these tasks, please let me know.  If you would like more information on what either role entails before committing, please email Robert at toots@tinyworld.co.uk

***
John Henderson has published the results of the IQ puzzle of the year votes. The winner was eXternal with his sausage-themed puzzle. On the podium were -

1.     1843 Sausage Competition    eXternal

2.     1852 Made Runny                  Charybdis

3.     1850 Blast Off                        Serpent

Read the full report here - https://www.fifteensquared.net/2025/02/15/inquisitor-review-of-the-year-2023-4-the-results/

***
The Magpie continues to produce the most original and testing puzzles every month. They have just published their annual statistics for 2024 and the names on the leader board are a good picture of the top solvers in the world.

Who were the top solvers in 2024?
1= Daniel Angel 12 12 72 [249]
1= Matthew Auger 12 12 72 [225.5]
1= Michael Bennett 12 12 72 –
1= Richard Chamberlain 12 12 72 [240]
1= David Giles 12 12 72 [249.2*]
1= John Reardon 12 12 72 [251.6]
1= Darren Roberts 12 12 72 [251]
1= Deane Short 12 12 72 [247.3]
1= Don Thompson 12 12 72 [252.1]
1= Clive Walker 12 12 72 –
1= Philip Wood 12 12 72 [204.5]
1= Nick Yannacone 12 12 72 [240.3]
13 Larry Baum 12 12 71 259.5
14 Geoff Telfer 12 12 71 263.5
15 Chris Cawthorn 11 12 71 258.2
16 Keith Sutherland 11 12 71 259.3
17= Tim Burt 11 12 71 262.2
17= Dale Johannesen 11 12 71 262.2
17= G Mullineux 11 12 71 262.2

The numbers after the names give a. all correct Magpie. b. all correct mathematical c. Total d.  Last failure issue (This month is issue 266).
https://www.piemag.com/
***
Now that Jason Crampton is the editor of the Times crossword, he has left the Magpie team. Colin Thomas (Twin) has taken over his job of First Test Solver.
***
The Listener Crossword Dinner will be held in the Seafront Hotel, Southport on Saturday 15 March. Jane Teather tells me that there are still some places available if you want to make a booking. Contact Jane or email me for details.
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The latest Azed Slip is now on the Crossword Centre with the results of the competition for TENEBROSE. The winner was P. W. Marlow:

Reform seen to be limiting Starmer’s focus? That’s dismal (r in anag.).

http://www.crossword.org.uk/Azed2742.pdf
***
When I published the Apex Letters two years ago, I tried to contact the family of Eric Chalkley. I had the email address of his daughter, Jennifer, but that address was defunct. However, I knew that his son Geoffrey lived in Haddonfield, NJ, and a Google search found his address. I wrote to him and he was able to give me Jennifer’s address. I sent them both copies of the book. Just recently, I have located Eric’s nephew, Brian, and I have been able to send him a copy. Eric was proud of his nephew and told me that he was a very good artist. Of course, Brian is now better known as the acclaimed artist, Brian Dawn Chalkley
***
Best wishes
Derek