John

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 7810/Tees

Thu October 27, 2011 at 6:02 pmThu October 27, 2011 at 12:23 pm by John

Some excellent clues in a very nice crossword today from Tees. One or two of them I couldn’t understand properly but I suspect that as usual all will be made clear. My apologies … Read more >>

Independent 7805/Phi

Fri October 21, 2011 at 1:18 am by John

Phi has as usual produced a very pleasing crossword, perhaps on the easier side — at any rate I found it to be so, although whether or not a crossword is easy seems … Read more >>

Azed 2054

Sun October 16, 2011 at 12:02 am by John

The usual thing: utterly sound clues and much struggling with words that one suspects will not for ever be retained by the Chambers Dictionary. Across 1 WALDRAPP — (law)rev. drapp{ie} — a drappie … Read more >>

Independent 7796/Eimi

Tue October 11, 2011 at 10:39 am by John

It seems to be ages since Eimi appeared, certainly ages since I blogged one of his crosswords. Everything was fairly easy today and it wasn’t the agonising Tuesday experience that I’d been fearing. … Read more >>

Independent 7791/Dac

Wed October 5, 2011 at 11:02 am by John

As usual a near-perfect crossword from Dac. Week after week he goes on producing these masterpieces. There is hardly anything here — so far as I can see — which calls for much comment … Read more >>

Independent 7786/Anax

Thu September 29, 2011 at 11:38 am by John

My apologies if this blog is on the late side. Having done the crossword by about 1 am, I managed to wipe it by mistake and when I tried to get back into … Read more >>

Independent 7781/Phi

Fri September 23, 2011 at 1:47 am by John

As usual a very nice crossword from Phi. Nothing very controversial I think. With Z, J and V clearly visible I suspected a pangram, but I can’t see a Q or an X. Across 8 … Read more >>

Independent 7772/Tyrus

Tue September 13, 2011 at 2:38 am by John

Phew. This was hard. I laboured over it and only got there in the end after giving up at times and pressing Reveal. If I hadn’t I’d have been up all night and you would … Read more >>

Independent 7767/Dac

Wed September 7, 2011 at 2:03 am by John

The usual outstanding crossword from Dac. Lovely smooth surfaces and so far as I can see nothing remotely controversial. Across 1 EMI(GRAN)T 6 FOSTER — 2 defs, one of which refers to Lord … Read more >>

Azed 2048

Sun September 4, 2011 at 12:02 am by John

As always an utterly satisfactory crossword from Azed. In several of these clues there is very neat wordplay, with words doing duty as different parts of speech according to whether they are in … Read more >>

Independent 7762/Klingsor

Thu September 1, 2011 at 11:21 amThu September 1, 2011 at 10:40 am by John

The usual (although he is a fairly new contributor) good crossword from Klingsor. There is a nice range of clue-types and some of them are very clever. Maybe there is some Nina here but … Read more >>

Independent 7757/Phi

Fri August 26, 2011 at 10:33 am by John

As always a nice solving experience from Phi. My heart tends to sink when I see that many of the clues refer to some other clue: one is always slow to get started and … Read more >>

Independent 7748/Monk

Tue August 16, 2011 at 11:59 pmTue August 16, 2011 at 11:32 am by John

There was a time when Monk’s crosswords were the ones I anticipated most eagerly of all. Which suggests that I am lukewarm about this one: not the case; it was easier than his … Read more >>

Independent 7743/Dac

Wed August 10, 2011 at 2:22 am by John

As always a silky-smooth production from Dac. Some of the surfaces are, even by his high standards, quite excellent. Across 1 CHAP EL{i} 5 APPOSITE — (op(rev). sit) in a PE — breathtakingly … Read more >>

Independent 7738/Mordred

Thu August 4, 2011 at 2:49 am by John

A good crossword from Mordred, but the Nina is completely lost on me. When I’d solved it there was a message inviting me to find all the examples of 16ac. If this is what it … Read more >>