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 6952/Virgilius

by

The usual nice Virgilius today, but I sense that some of it is passing me by. There was a sinking feeling as I stared at it, quite sure that the usual devilish Virgilius … Read more >>

Independent 6947/Dac

by

An unusually tricky Dac today. I don’t remember ever, in one of his crosswords, making so many marks by clues reminding me to look things up afterwards. This does not itself reflect on … Read more >>

Independent 6931/Phi

by

A typically nice Phi. I have one or two quibbles with, or at any rate misgivings about, some of the punctuation, but no doubt all will be explained. I’m off for the weekend … Read more >>

Azed 1907 — Plain

by

A fairly standard Azed, I think.  Lots of words of which I’d never heard, fairly predictable and verified in Chambers, and as usual a very well-constructed grid, with words of many lengths (except that … Read more >>

Independent 6914/Phi

by

I didn’t time myself for this as I was listening to England’s heroics in India at the same time, so probably not giving it quite the usual attention. It seemed the usual Phi thing, … Read more >>

Independent 6905/Hypnos

by

The wordplay is always fine, but forgive me if I’m lukewarm about some of the surfaces, which seem to me to be a bit thin. ‘Publication with no trouble elevated colour’; ‘A liberal honour … Read more >>

Independent 6894/Dac

by

As always with Dac, clue after clue hits the button. Across 1 SUBJECT — 2 defs 5 DA(STAR)D — although the similar word with a different initial letter has a similar meaning, at … Read more >>

Independent 6887/Eimi

by

A Remembrance Day-themed crossword from Eimi most of which was pleasant and accessible but which I found hard to finish. Help needed with 22dn, please. Across 1 MIMI C — I’m not keen on the … Read more >>

Independent 6882/Dac

by

How is it possible, week after week, to say anything new about Dac? As always, the surfaces are elegant and smooth and there are no real points of contention, so far as I can … Read more >>

Independent 6878/Phi

by

A typically nice crossword, but trickier than usual for Phi. Some long words were slow to come. Across 7 DOZE(n) 8 BOTTLENECK — I don’t really understand this — why wouldn’t you expect to find jam in … Read more >>