May 29, 2011 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

NTSPP – 068 (Review)

Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 068 (Review)

Map by Elgar / Enigmatist

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For the uninitiated, Sloggers and Betters (a spoonerism of Bloggers and Setters) is a convivial evening involving lots of alcohol and a meal when setters of crosswords, bloggers and solvers meet in a pub and then a nearby restaurant. It usually, but not exclusively, follows the lunch given by the Times for its crossword setters.

The 8th Sloggers and Betters meeting took place at the Ship & Shovell (whose address and other London landmarks appear in the crossword). Ignoring the first and last letters, the top left to bottom right diagonal of grid features the name of the pub.

It was a pleasure to meet many familiar setters this year including Cephas, Giovanni, Shamus, Notabalis, Micawber and many others including John Henderson (Elgar) who with his wife Jane organised this year’s meeting. In honour of the occasion, Elgar prepared this crossword for those attending which he kindly allowed to be published as a NTSPP.

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