EV 1599 (Setter’s Blog) – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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EV 1599 (Setter’s Blog)

EV1599

Full Steam Ahead by X-Type

Setter’s Blog


The CURRENT WORLD SPEED RECORD FOR A STEAM-POWERED MOTORBIKE is indicated on the dial as (approx.) 163 MPH set by Graham Sykes in May 2023.

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The idea for this puzzle began to take shape before Lockdown, in 2019: when a good friend of mine, who lives in my home town in Yorkshire, showed off his pet project in our local pub. He (that is, Graham Sykes – aka “Syko”!) is a brilliant engineer who has his own workshop and who designs and builds everything himself – and to extremely high standards of precision.

This project followed on from an earlier one, where he built a three-wheeled dragster and then proceeded to break the British and European speed records for a three-wheeled vehicle. But then he set his sights on the world record for a steam-powered motorbike: a record that had stood unchallenged for almost 20 years. Knowing Graham as I do, I knew it was only a matter of time before he succeeded: and I thought it would make a fitting – if somewhat unusual – theme for a puzzle. So this EV had been in final preparation for over a year, waiting for the opportune moment: and the EV Editor kindly agreed to find it a slot, once the world record had been officially ratified and declared – which took about a month from the actual event itself.

The previous record stood at just over 80mph: and Graham not only broke it – he smashed it; reaching an incredible 163mph…and he went from zero to 163 in an amazing 3.8 seconds, pulling nearly 4G! In fact, he was still accelerating, when he passed the time-keeper: and he eventually achieved 180mph. But of course, that didn’t count as the “official” record – though he aims to reach 200mph in future attempts.

The internet is now full of articles (from various newspapers, BBC, Tyne Tees TV, etc) and videos of this fantastic feat – so I urge you to look it up and be astounded…

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A full review of this puzzle can be seen over on fifteensquared.