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 7911/Dac

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 As we expect, a smooth efficient job from Dac.  Some of the clues are excellent and it is sad that these masterpieces which he produces week after week are here for a day and then almost completely forgotten. … Read more >>

Azed 2071

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The usual experience from Azed — excellent sound stuff. There is one about which I’m not sure: I think my answer is right, but I’m glad that the doubt occurred when I was … Read more >>

Independent 7906/Anax

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Yet again, because of the vagaries of randomness, Anax has to put up with my inability to parse his clever clues. There are I’m afraid one or two that I just can’t understand, … Read more >>

Independent 7900/Monk

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When I saw the rather strange grid, with six 15-letter words and only 22 answers, it immediately seemed that something was afoot, but I can’t see anything. Perhaps there is indeed something there, … Read more >>

Independent 7892/Anax

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Poor old Anax seems to be stuck with me at the moment and I probably don’t do justice to a beautifully-crafted crossword with some lovely clues. But this was tough. On several occasions I … Read more >>

Independent 7882/Anax

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The usual outstanding crossword from Anax. Of course there are one or two about which I’m not quite sure, but that’s usual. There are some quite brilliant clues here. I’ve referred to one … Read more >>

Independent7877/Phi

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Unusually difficult for Phi today, I thought: on my first pass I solved far fewer clues than usual. Perhaps this was the result of my incompetence but one factor was the number of … Read more >>

Azed 2065

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After the hours I spent on the Christmas crossword two weeks ago, this one came as welcome relief. Not that it was easy: Azed never is, for me at any rate, but this … Read more >>

Independent 7853/Phi

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For some reason I was unusually quick on this crossword, solving over half the clues on an initial read-through, something that doesn’t often happen. So I would say what a nice crossword, wouldn’t … Read more >>