In
That Moment pennies (p in RIPS and d in CARDCASE) drop in two clues so that the
dIAGONAL(D), as given by the dropped letters in eight across clues, reads THE
PENNY DROPS. PENNYPINCH is changed to PINCHPENNY to complete the grid which
contains no other ps or ds.
Crossword News July 2022
The June Prize Puzzle was Repatriation by Hawk. The
government decided to repatriate even-numbered letters (B, D, F, H, etc). L and
N were the two fugitives. The oblique commentary spelled out in the departure
lounges were the phrases COMME CI COMME CA (“not ideal”) and EASY COME EASY GO
(“casual attitude”).
Here are some of the comments from solvers.
This was a toughie, made tougher with the inclusion of a lot
of obscure terms in both entries and wordplay, but balanced somewhat with
liberal checking. A very entertaining puzzle,
starting with the clever and amusing wording in the preamble complemented by
many superb clues, quite devious in some cases I might add. Quite an achievement in gridfill to be left
with only the 'odd' characters, and to find starting entries with just one
instance each of unwanted characters, even with the dispensation of rotational
symmetry. A challenge well worth the price, great fun, many thanks.
Such a lovely, engrossing puzzle. Great clues, with the extra words
well-disguised. While filling the grid,
I did notice certain letters recurring, but it took a while for me to realise
that Hawk was using only 13 (alternating at that!!) letters of the alphabet,
with any of the other 13 to be replaced by those. Brilliant setting feat! Many thanks to Hawk.
This was a tough one! I had filled the grid before I saw
which were the "unwanted characters" and was astonished to find that
they included half the alphabet! A remarkable achievement by Hawk to fill the
grid thus, and to find phrases to fill the first and last rows. The top phrase
ingeniously removed any ambiguity as regards 7 and 14 down.
There is a full solution at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2022/07/repatriation-by-hawk-solution.html
This proved to be a difficult puzzle. There were 35 entries,
of which 9 were marked incorrect. The lucky winner, picked from the electronic
hat was Gerry Murtagh, from Glasgow, who will soon be receiving his prize of
Chambers Crossword Dictionary.
There is still time for you to solve the July challenge,
That Moment by Chiffchaff.
The August Prize Puzzle sees a return of a popular setter,
Side by Side by eXternal.
The Crossword Centre pipeline is looking very healthy with
puzzles every month until next April.
***
John Tozer, who suffered a heart attack in May, is recovering very slowly and
it is hoped that he will move into rehabilitation soon. Until he is well enough
to manage the &lit site the Azed Slip will be available on the Crossword
Centre - http://www.crossword.org.uk/
We wish him a speedy recovery.
***
I have been watching the growth of MyCrossword, a site developed by Raider,
aka Tom Blackwell. MyCrossword allows
setters to create and publish puzzles. Alan Connor has recently interviewed
Raider and you can find out more here - https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2022/jul/04/crossword-roundup-could-your-puzzle-find-a-home-online-at-mycrossword
***
On Saturday 27 August there will be return of Lollapuzzoola in New York. As
well as the five puzzle tournament there is an opportunity to compete on-line.
You can buy tickets and get more information at https://bemoresmarter.com/lpz2022/
Best wishes
Derek
Solution
TThe government decided to repatriate even-numbered letters (B, D, F, H, etc). L and N were the two fugitives. The oblique commentary spelled out in the departure lounges were the phrases COMME CI COMME CA (“not ideal”) and EASY COME EASY GO (“casual attitude”).
Crossword News June 2022
The May Prize Puzzle was Mayhem Parva by Vagans. Extra
letters produced by the wordplay of down clues spell PREAMBLE RECOMMENDATION.
Chambers is recommended in the preamble, and Sidney Chambers is the hero of the
Grantchester series by James Runcie. GRANTCHESTER and RUNCIE are to be
highlighted, avoiding the red herrings ARCHER and BROOKE, two other authors
with Grantchester connections.
Here are some of the comments from solvers.
A nice puzzle from Vagans, continuing his episcopally-themed
series across various publications. The red herrings were a nice touch. I hadn’t herd of Runcie in this connection,
but the name seemed to stand out in the grid and was easy to confirm
online. The preamble recommendation took
me a while to work out and then was very amusing – neatly done.
This was as ingenious a hidden theme as I can remember! Even
when I had worked out that the last sentence of the preamble was the key, the
penny did not drop until I spotted GRANTCHESTER in the diagonal. Long ago I
read one of James Runcie's books but I had forgotten that the protagonist was
called Chambers. The symmetrically placed "red herrings" were very
neat.
This was an enjoyable solve! As a fan of Grantchester I
wasn't led astray (at least I hope not!) by the appearance of other famed
villagers in the grid. Some neat and commendably short clues with very 'smooth'
surface readings. Thanks to the
Crossword Centre and Vagans for the puzzle.
There were 54 entries, of which 6 were marked incorrect. The
lucky winner, picked from the electronic hat, was Hugh Everett, who will be
receiving a prize of Chambers Crossword Dictionary which was donated by
Chambers.
There is a full solution at https://crosswordcentre.blogspot.com/2022/06/solution-to-mayhem-parva-by-vagans.html
You still have lots of time to send in your entry for the
June puzzle, Repatriation by Hawk.
The July challenge will be That Moment by Chiffchaff.
***
The last Saturday in May saw the Azed 50th anniversary lunch,
organised by Richard Heald and Will Drever. Some 80 guests met in Wolfson
College for lunch with speeches from Azed and, guest speakers, Graeme Garden,
Don Manley and William Keegan.
John Burscough entertained everyone with a clever verse.
Azed @ 50 By John Burscough
Lockdown’s over! And so we’re now able
Once again to convene at High Table
In the flesh, in a session that’s plenary
Celebrating Azed’s quinquagenary
His semi-centennial quorum!
Since he picked his first Victor Verborum
One could scarce say his reign has been cursory
Now we greet such a sweet Anniversary
Not Tin-ly, or Silver-ly, or Ruby-ly,
But Goldenly – a loverly (jubbly) Jubilee!
So at last, let our glasses be re-raisèd
50 years – so nifty – here’s to Azed!
After the lunch many guests went to Azed’s house for more
food and drinks in the garden.
The only black cloud over the day was, of course, the sad
news announced by Azed of the illness of John Tozer, the architect and keeper
of the invaluable "andlit" archive and the Crossword Centre
Clue-writing Competition. I'm sorry to
report that John suffered a heart attack towards the end of last week and is
currently in hospital in a serious but stable condition. I'm sure you'll join me in wishing John a
swift and complete return to health.
***
Someone has scanned all of Ximenes on the Art of the Crossword and put
it online. This is a chance to read a very rare book and one which is still the
standard handbook for solvers and setters. Find it here https://xotaotc.nfshost.com/
***
Chris Lancaster has devised a new puzzle for The Telegraph. PlusWord is a fun
game and is not behind the paywall. You can try it at https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/plusword/
***
The Guardian carried an obituary to Barbara Hall, who died aged 99. She was
puzzles and crossword editor at the Sunday Times for over 30 years.
https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/2022/may/31/barbara-hall-obituary
Although in the May newsletter I said that she composed the Sunday Times
crossword, Peter Biddlecombe has made it clear that she always worked as one of
a team of at least three setters. In the 5 years or so before she retired, she
wrote 50% of them and the other half was shared between Jeff Pearce, Tim Moorey
and Don Manley.
***
Anax produced a clever crossword in tribute to the late Neil Shepherd. You can
watch Mark Goodliffe solve it at https://youtu.be/Pvdmn-UVQ5o
Best wishes
Derek
Extra
letters produced by the wordplay of down clues spell PREAMBLE RECOMMENDATION. Chambers
is recommended in the preamble, and Sidney Chambers is the hero of the
Grantchester series by James Runcie. GRANTCHESTER and RUNCIE are to be
highlighted, avoiding the red herrings
ARCHER and BROOKE, two other authors with Grantchester connections (shaded in
grey for information).
Across: 1 G
ABBA, 5 ZARA
in MOB, 10 (ROAR)*,
11 C(ambridge)
U(university) P(ress) around A, 13 NONE GO, 14 (styli)SH IN NE(ckwear), 15 (BLUE BLOOD)* - (BOB)*, 17 (r)EGRET, 18 KEEN< around B(ethlehemite), 20 ECO
STATE and ECOSTATE, 21 ACE
around ALEPH, 27 ER in
RUN, 29 REVERIE
less letters of VR, 30 (ASS
I RC)< [pies=magpies], 31 SALOON*,
32 HEM
around OLD, 35 (like)S
PUD(ding), 36 HE in
GE, 37 REP +
LAYS, 38 CHA
RR and "char" in two senses.
Down: 1 GOO S[P]EY, 2 ARCHE[R]
- HE, 3 B RAID[E]R*, 4 BAS[A]N
over ET, 5 MALE [M]IC, 6 [B]OUND Y, 7 LAW
N, 8 [E]AGLETS
round (sh)I(re), 9 {[R]OOK about BR(idge)} E, 11 CAN[E]
TEENS, 12 M[C] ELBA, 16 EEL in (E S[O]UND)*, 19 [M]ACE
ROSE, 21 [M]ARCHER, 22 IL in [E]ARS, 23 HI[N]T
around A US, 24 {S(outhern) GI< H(ospital)} in BE[D], 25 (ARBRO[A]TH
- R)*, 26 PEN REN[T]<, 28 [I]CY
about AMP, 33 [O]DAL, 34 HER[N].
