Crossword News April 2023
The March Prize Puzzle was High Bar by Hawk. The theme was jumbled
countries and their capital cities. 6 Down gave MINSK/BELARUS. Other wordplay
clues led to SANTIAGO/CHILE, DILI/EAST TIMOR, DAKAR/SENEGAL, DUBLIN/IRELAND,
MASERU/LESOTHO, and TRIPOLI/LIBYA. Cells highlighted on the perimeter gave
TALLINN/ESTONIA. Paired extra words in clues were jumbles of ten further
capital cities and their countries. The title was a cryptic indication of Tall
Inn!
Here are some of the comments from solvers.
That was a challenging, entertaining puzzle, top-notch in
every respect: initial concept; grid construction; marvellous clues with
plausible surfaces, and extra words cleverly disguised; managing to incorporate
so many capitals and their countries, including some amazing anagrams from the
twenty removed words. Although it wasn't
strictly necessary to solve those ten pairs if the extra words had been
correctly determined, it would have seemed an injustice to the puzzle not to
figure out each and every one, so I happily did! Got a good laugh when the reason for the
title dawned on me following the final step. Many thanks to Hawk and the
Crossword Centre.
Congratulations (and thanks) to Hawk for managing to fit so
much thematic material into both grid and clues in one of the more difficult
monthly prize puzzles. In practice, I had the grid just about filled from the
across and down clues before I had any idea what the puzzle was all about. If
there had to be a criticism it is that you didn't actually have to solve all of
the wordplay jumbles in the grid, given the symmetry, or all the extra word
pairs, but that would have denied you part of the fun.
Wow - this was tough going! I had no idea what was going on
until the very end - my only way to finish was to reverse engineer from a list
of capitals/countries back to the wordplay clues. Even though not strictly
necessary to finish I did go through and work out all the extra word pairings
as well just for my own satisfaction. I have to say it’s a really impressive
construction and I thought the clues were excellent. All in all, a really
enjoyable puzzle - but please let April’s be a bit easier!
There were 44 entries, of which 7 were marked incorrect,
some for misspelling Tallinn. The lucky winner picked from the electronic hat was David Simmonds of Dartford who will be receiving a prize of Chambers Crossword Dictionary
There is a full solution at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2023/04/solution-to-high-bar-by-hawk.html
You still have plenty time to solve the April challenge,
Round Robin XV.
The May Prize Puzzle has a very apt title – Coronation by
Chalicea.
We now have puzzles allocated up to August and Eclogue has
already submitted their December challenge. We would welcome submissions for
the autumn months.
***
Keith Williams posted this on our message board.
This April, The Crossword Club is 45 years young. To
coincide with this landmark, the Club has re-launched its website, which can
now be found at: www.thecrossword.club
So far, the site contains both old and new content with the promise of more to
come.
With grateful thanks to all involved in its creation.
As someone who signed up to the first issue of the magazine,
I am very pleased. The site is worth visiting for some interesting downloads.
***
Robert Teuton, manager of our clue-writing competition, usually has a hidden
theme to the words that he chooses. He set us a challenge to work out the theme
of the 2017 words. He explains thus.
Not too many problems identifying the theme, but a couple of
the links proved trickier. The link
related to whichever star sign was extant at the launch of each competition,
so:
Month
Clue word(s)
Rationale
JANUARY CASHMERE Obtained from goats –
CAPRICORN
FEBRUARY FURPHY A water cart
(carrier), Chambers – AQUARIUS
MARCH TRUMPETER Type of fish – PISCES
APRIL CORVUS A hooked ram for
destroying walls – ARIES
MAY MICKEY A wild young bull
(Aust.), Chambers - TAURUS
JUNE COLLOP/SURTAX Anagram of CASTOR and POLLUX –
GEMINI
JULY FIDDLER A type of crab –
CANCER
AUGUST HALFPENNY Leigh HALFPENNY, a British
Lion – LEO
SEPTEMBER MAIDEN A virgin – VIRGO
OCTOBER EQUIPOISE State of balance –
LIBRA
NOVEMBER FATHER-LASHER Another name for the sea scorpion
– SCORPIO
DECEMBER ARCHER The Archer -
SAGGITARIUS
A lion did appear on certain halfpenny coins, so was
accepted and other links were made to MICKEY gaining half points. The major stumbling block was failing to spot
that COLLOP and SURTAX was an anagram of the Gemini pair rather than just a
couplet to represent twins.
Some interesting ideas for a replacement to COLLOP/SURTAX,
including MINNESOTA for the baseball team or the Twin Cities and I liked the
suggestion of JEDWARD! Two entrants
discovered DIOSCURI which in itself is a very neat replacement, but one of them
offered its anagram SCIUROID which was preferred for its extra level of
crypticity and the fact it fitted in well with the original couplet being in
anagram form...
...so congratulations go to Arsinoe Eleven - well done
indeed! Commiserations to Bhalchandra
Pasupathy who just missed out on the tiebreak. Special mentions to others who
came close (in order): Simon Shaw, John Appleton, Dale Johannesen, Nick Smith,
Charlie Oakley, Seerat Hazir, Alan Chamberlain and Lawrence Baum.
***
In the March newsletter I mentioned the dinner held at the Café Royale to
celebrate the Ximenes 1000 crossword. John Walsh wrote to me to tell me that he
had copies of the menu for that meeting and the table plan. They are
fascinating documents. The menu has all the speakers and the food beginning
with the letter M. On the back is this delightful acrostic poem.
Dear Ximenes, year after happy year,
Each week you've challenged us, your friendly foes.
Ravening wolves?" Yet wolves, one may suppose
Rarely show such affection for their deer.
Into our Sunday lairs we disappear
Clutching that crucial page, while others doze,
Keenly we scan your esoteric prose,
Mark in with dubious pencil what seems clear.
Anon the pennies drop; anon we smile;
Chambers confirms; the squares are filled at last.
Now to our clues, all but the best of these
Unlikely to approach your wit and guile ...
Thank you, a thousand times, for what is past.
The future? "Floreat Semper Ximenes!"
R. Postill
The table plan makes for interesting reading and I have put all these on the
Crossword Centre at http://www.crossword.org.uk/X1000.html
***
The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament ended in an exciting final round,
where the favourite, Dan Feyer, beat Paolo Pasco by just one second.
https://www.crosswordtournament.com/2023/index.htm
***
When I asked a chatbot to write my newsletter, here is what it suggested.
The New York Times Crossword turns 80: The New York Times
celebrated the 80th anniversary of its crossword puzzle in February 2023. The
Times crossword is widely regarded as the gold standard of crossword puzzles,
and its popularity has only grown over the years.
Record-breaking puzzles: In recent years, crossword
constructors have been pushing the boundaries of what's possible in a crossword
puzzle. In 2019, for example, David Steinberg created a puzzle with a
record-breaking 27 themers (entries that share a common theme). In 2022, Robin
Weintraub created a puzzle with a staggering 28 themers.
Crossword tournaments go virtual: Due to the COVID-19
pandemic, many crossword tournaments have moved online. The American Crossword
Puzzle Tournament, for example, held its first virtual tournament in 2021, with
contestants participating from all over the world.
Crosswords for charity: Crossword constructors have also
been using their skills to raise money for charity. In 2021, for example, a
group of constructors created a puzzle pack to benefit Black Lives Matter and
other racial justice organizations.
Best wishes
