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 7186/Merlin

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How clever. All the across answers except 16ac consist of something repeated, as indicated by 16ac (DOUBLE-DEALING). Quite an achievement to fit them all in, so one can be lenient about the obscurity … Read more >>

Independent 7181/Dac

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I was slowed by two words of which I’ve never heard, one of which I can find in no English dictionary; and there’s one more I’m not very comfortable with. Otherwise (at least) … Read more >>

Azed 1950

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As always Azed produces a top-class grid, with four words crossing it completely and two more almost doing so. As a result, of course, there are many words that need a painstaking hunt … Read more >>

Independent 7177/Phi

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A couple of words where I felt no hint of guilt in using the aids: HAEREMAI (obviously familiar to Phi but not perhaps to people outside New Zealand) and MEERSCHAUM, and one more … Read more >>

Independent 7168/Virgilius

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Virgilius’s theme is tricky alternatives, as we see in the three different expressions in the across clues.  As always I suspect I’m not telling the whole story. Across 9 A GREE{n} 12 yellowstonE nationaL … Read more >>

Independent 7163/Dac

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Smooth and neat as always from Dac. The naturalness of his clues never ceases to amaze me. Across 1 SECOND — 2 defs, pronounced differently 4 A DV(AN CE)D 9 EX POUND 11/12 … Read more >>

Independent 7159/Phi

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This seemed unusually difficult for Phi and one clue completely defeated me. There are a few I’m not sure about, which will I’m sure be rapidly explained here. Across 1 M(US(1)CO LOG)Y 6 … Read more >>

Independent 7139/Dac

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A typically pleasant crossword. Unusually for Dac, there are one or two things I’m not completely comfortable with: no doubt someone will come to the rescue. Across 1 TAR BOOS H 6 EX(PO’S)E … Read more >>

Azed 1943

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I am always full of admiration for Azed’s grids. Here he has what seems to me to be a great achievement, four twelve-letter words, two next to each other going down the centre … Read more >>

Independent 7126/Radian

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Whenever ones sees several answers that are not ‘properly’ checked (in other words which have more unchecked than checked letters) one is alerted to the fact that there is some theme; although I … Read more >>

Independent 7122/Scorpion

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An enjoyable crossword from Scorpion. As you might expect there was some tricky wordplay — in many of these its explanation needs to be separate from the answer. Across 1 SILICON VALLEY — 2 defs, … Read more >>

Independent 7115/Dac

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Apparently Dac’s recent Saturday crossword was quite tricky. He seems to have continued in the same vein here — this took me far longer than a normal Dac. The usual crop of very … Read more >>