John's avatarJohn

Born 1946. Since retiring (maths teacher) have spent an increasing amount of time on crosswords, something that was impossible before – am not in the sub-ten minutes league and probably never will be. Do The Times every day (more often than not in over half an hour), also an assortment of other puzzles. Have been doing Azed monthly for some years and entering his clue-setting competitions, occasionally with some success (I even won once, have had 36 VHCs and 138 HCs — yes, I keep a record, sad isn't it) but not enough for my liking. I've set a few crosswords: five in Oxford Today, a few on Derek Harrison's website, and five in The Independent, under the name Vernon. Also play a lot of chess and golf, although as I age I'm getting weaker at both.

Independent 8203/Anax

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Yes I was right yesterday when I posted and said that I suspected the Raich crossword was easier than whatever I was going to be blogging today,  but although this was on the tricky side all … Read more >>

Independent 8198/Dac

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The usual excellent puzzle from Dac. No problems that I could see — some might object to his use of r = recipe, but that seems to me to be quite OK — … Read more >>

Azed 2119

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The usual excellent crossword from Azed and as usual I won’t give detailed descriptions of all the very unusual words, in the knowledge that anyone interested enough in this crossword to look here … Read more >>

Independent 8193/Rorschach

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A crossword today from Rorschach that I at any rate found particularly hard, not helped by its thrice vanishing into the ether so that I had to restart.  Some of the clues are … Read more >>

Independent 8188/Phi

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As always on Fridays a good puzzle from Phi.  More than the usual number of words were at least unfamiliar, and in one case I had to cheat and click ‘Reveal’, but the clueing was … Read more >>

Independent 8179/Raich

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A well-constructed crossword from Raich which for some reason I found a bit harder than usual.  Can’t see why now, because the clues all seem to be straightforward.  On this particular day you’d think that … Read more >>

Independent 8174/Anax

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A nice crossword from Anax themed around 16ac and 6dn that so far as I can see, apart from the fact that 16ac is often a Christmas show, has no connection with the season. … Read more >>

Independent 8170/Scorpion

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A very good crossword from Scorpion today, full of excellent clues, and hardly anything to quibble about. It also has a theme of which I approve — it is possible to solve the crossword … Read more >>

Azed 2113

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Again a lovely sound crossword from Azed. I won’t waste time by copying out Chambers but as usual will confine myself to trying to explain how the clues work, something that wasn’t always … Read more >>

Independent 8156/Scorpion

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A crossword with a theme that will not be approved of by everyone, since 8/12 should in some people’ s views be written out of history, certainly not given unwarranted publicity. Not perhaps … Read more >>

Independent 8146/Radian

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Radian has given us a pleasant crossword today themed largely around 16ac, which is connected with many of the clues. I have my doubts about 15dn, although perhaps I have it quite wrong … Read more >>

Independent 8141/Poins

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Not the usual Friday Phi today (no doubt he appears tomorrow), and rather a difficult crossword from Poins instead. Not everyone is happy with the device of requiring the solver to get certain … Read more >>

Independent 8132/Alchemi

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A new setter today, at least I’ve never heard the name before. Some of the clues would perhaps be more comfortable in one of the other newspapers blogged on this site, but many … Read more >>