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 surely never will be. Do The Times every day (more often than not in over half an hour), also an assortment of other puzzles. Did Azed monthly for some years and entered his clue-setting competitions, occasionally with some success (I even won once, had 38 VHCs and 140 HCs — yes, I kept 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 7988/Punk

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The last time we had a Punk he had me as a blogger and I was less than complimentary about his puzzle — but it was pointed out that I shouldn’t have been. … Read more >>

Azed 2083

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The usual Azed solve: excellent sound clueing and a large number of words that you never knew existed. Across 1 BEWITCH — the competition clue-word 7 ASTI{r} 10 ATHAPASCAN — (Apach{e} Satan)* although … Read more >>

Independent 7964/Anax

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A quite excellent crossword from Anax. He seems to be a frequent contributor to the Independent (or perhaps it’s just that he always seems to get me) and although his crosswords are on the … Read more >>

Independent 7959/Dac

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As usual a thoroughly satisfactory crossword from Dac; indeed ‘satisfactory’ is to damn with faint praise. It is of course far more than satisfactory, and as always the surfaces are smooth and shiny. … Read more >>

Independent 7954/Klingsor

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Yet another excellent workout from Klingsor this morning. Many of the clues have quite tricky constructions, but it is all perfectly fair and often very nice. As always with Klingsor — what else, when … Read more >>

Azed 2077

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The usual thing from Azed: utterly sound clueing and lots of wading through Chambers in search of words you have never heard of, which is quite fun, once you’re used to it. As … Read more >>

Independent 7940/Anax

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An excellent offering from Anax today. It seems that he is making his crosswords a bit more accessible, without the devilish twists of wordplay that have characterised his puzzles in the past. Although, … Read more >>

Independent 7935/Dac

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As always a smooth solving experience from Dac. His surfaces are quite outstanding: without apparently trying he manages one that is suited perfectly to the clue and he does this time and again. Across 1 PICNIC … Read more >>