RIP Campbell (Allan Scott)
I am sad to report that Allan Scott (aka Campbell) passed away last week. He had been unwell for a while, and so had called an end to his compiling a few months ago; his last Monday back-page pair ran at the beginning of April.
In addition to providing crosswords for the Telegraph, he set the Everyman crossword in the Observer for a great many years and also set crosswords for The Times, The Spectator, the Listener, The Financial Times (as Falcon). His crosswords will be missed by many, not least those who liked to look for the double and triple puns in his Telegraph Quick crosswords
This may be of interest https://amp.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2022/nov/26/meet-the-setter-the-observers-everyman
Our condolences to his family and friends
RIP Campbell and condolences to the family. The double and triple punners will be missed.
My word, what dreadful news. He will be sorely missed. Very, very sad. I did fear the worst but had no idea. RIP Campbell.
Very sad news indeed. RIP, Campbell and thank you for many wonderful puzzles.
Condolences to the family.
So sorry to hear the news. He will be missed by a lot of people. Condolences to his family.
Sad news indeed. Mondays won’t be quite the same without the Campbell puns. My condolences to his family.
That is very sad news. He will be sorely missed by his family, his friends, and devoted crossword addicts. RIP Campbell.
Such sad news. Thanks Allan for all the pleasure your Monday puzzles & puns gave us. You will be greatly missed.
Sorely missed indeed. Campbell’s Monday cryptics and puns were so enjoyable and mostly attainable. He brought so much to so many. Condolences to his family and friends.
Sad news. Campbell’s Monday puzzles always gave us a good start to our crossword week. I always liked looking for his multiple puns in the Monday Quickie. RIP
I’m very sorry to hear this.
Seems a long time ago, but I used to solve his Everyman puzzles regularly, and no doubt some of his anonymous works in the Times and Telegraph before crossword blogs made setters more familiar. Only the very best have a career of that longevity with no drop in quality at all.
So sorry to hear this news Mondays will never be the same
I did hear this very sad news yesterday so was hoping something would be put up here so we could pay tribute to a supremely talented setter.
Condolences to his friends and family.
Very sad news indeed! My condolences to his family. The land of cruciverbalism has lost one of its finest citizens. May he rest in peace.
Many thanks for letting us know, Sue, even though it’s news that none of us ever wanted to hear. Mondays haven’t been the same since he retired from the scene and it’s dreadful to think that we now face never seeing another puzzle from him.
Sincere condolences to all his family and close friends.
My condolences to his family – he will be sorely missed He really had the start of the crossword week sorted
Sad news, indeed, he will be missed. Condolences to his family. Godspeed Campbell, with a fair wind and a following sea.
Goodness, what sad news. My deepest condolences to his family and friends. I will miss my weekly battle with him, and his ‘Quickie’ puns – they always made me laugh. Thanks for letting us know Sue.
RIP Sir.
I am so sad to hear this. What a clever man he was.
What terribly sad news. Campbell’s Monday cryptic puzzles were always so much fun, a good start to the week, with the additional wit and humour of the quickie puns. He has been much missed just over the last few weeks, so the months ahead will feel very empty without him and knowing there’s to be no return.
Condolences to his family and friends. Thank you and RIP Campbell.
I always enjoyed my Monday morning cryptics provided by Campbell; fun, teasing and a lovely start to the week. Very sorry to hear the desperately sad news, and I join my commenting colleagues in sending my heartfelt condolences to the Scott family.
You will be missed.
RIP. One of the very best compilers IMO. His excellent work will be greatly missed, not least by me. Condolences to all concerned.
Paul (NYDK)
I can do no better than echo the comments of my colleague Donnybrook/NYDK. Very sad news indeed.
Knowing how often I struggle to think of even one appropriate Quick pun, anyone who can include two or even three in a single puzzle is deserving of my utmost admiration.
In Rufus, Allan had a very hard act to follow, but he became the new “Mr Monday” in his own style. RIP.
This news is very dispiriting and obviously much worse for friends and family. Campbell had been the Monday setter when I started doing the DT cryptic and he made Monday my favourite day.
RIP and enjoy the heaven you have gone to.
Very sad news indeed – condolences to his family and friends.
Campbell was the only setter who could tempt me to venture into the lower reaches of the Quickie puzzles.
My deepest condolences to the family and friends of Campbell who was most certainly rich in puns. RIP
RIP Alan Scott, master of the multiple puns.
Thank you for letting us know, Sue. While that Guardian interview does have a very passing mention of Alan Scott, it’s actually with the current Everyman setter (who is a different Alan).
My sincere condolences to Christina, Allan’s wife, and his friends and family.
Allan has long been one of my favourite compilers. Shortly before I took over as Telegraph Puzzles Editor some six and a half years ago, I learned that Roger Squires was retiring; Allan had been compiling back-page puzzles for us for some years already, and asking him to take over as “Mr Monday” was the easiest decision I’ve had in my time at the Telegraph. His puzzles were always fair, often amusing, and, very importantly as far as I was concerned, required little or no editing. His cryptics often contained titles of classic films or plays as answers, which may have caused problems for some solvers, but they were always clued scrupulously fairly. I echo Silvanus’ thoughts regarding Allan’s Quick puns; fitting two (or sometimes three) into each puzzle was incredibly impressive.
As well as compiling 633 back-page Cryptic and Quick pairs for us, Allan produced a number of Toughies under his pseudonym of Campbell, around 30 Cross Atlantics, some 70 Mini Crosswords, as well as all 730 or so sets of online-only prize Cryptic, Quick and General Knowledge Crosswords. This must make him one of the most prolific Telegraph compilers ever, as it means he was responsible for over 3,500 Telegraph crosswords of various types.
Not only was Allan a superb compiler, he was also a really nice person. News of his illness last year coincided with some bad health news of my own, and we formed our own little support group; it says it all that he always seemed more concerned with how I was doing, rather than with his own problems. I will miss him greatly.
Many thanks, Chris, for that fitting tribute to one of the very best compilers. Sorry too to learn that you too have had some health issues.
Thank you very much Chris for this splendid tribute. What a loss to the crossword world! Inter alia, I thought his quickies were always excellent, especially the puns. As you say, ‘incredibly impressive’.
I’d like to echo Rabbit Dave in saying I’m sorry to learn you have had health issues and wish you everything of the best.
My warmest condolences to Campbell’s family and friends.
A super tribute to a great compiler, thank you Chris. And I’m sorry to read of your own health concerns and wish you all the very best in that regard.
Thanks, Chris, for that tribute to a great crossword man.
I was privileged to edit Allan’s Telegraph puzzles for nine years — though I can hardly claim to have edited them, as they needed so few changes. The accuracy of his online-only Cryptic, Quick and General Knowledge crosswords, in particular, was unbelievable.
As Chris says, Allan was a very nice man too.
My condolences to his family.
Phil McNeill
Very sad indeed, my condolences to his friends and family.
My thoughts and condolences to his family, RIP Allan
Oh dear that is sad news. A benighted soul, I had no idea that Allan was Campbell — no wonder I liked those ‘easy-but-good’ puzzles so much. I was aware of his stint as Everyman however, although unfortunately for some of us (well, me anyway) he seems to have been the last among those in the lineage prepared to continue the long-standing, elegant style. Many a lovely tribute here to which I add my own small commendation.
Thank you Allan, and condolences to your family.
Such a sad loss to us all. Our thoughts and love to all his family, friends and colleagues. He will be greatly missed.
I am so, so sorry to hear of this news. I will, (and have the past few weeks). missed his puzzles on a Monday. hey were always a joy to tackle and a lot of fun with is multiple word clues.
Condolences to all his family and those close to him.
I will miss him greatly.
Sad news.
I always enjoyed the Monday puzzle and for some reason was usually on his wavelength.
RIP.
A sad loss indeed. One of my favourite setters over many years. Very best wishes to his family.
Thanks to Sue, and Chris Lancaster, for sharing this news.
Very sad news. My thoughts and best wishes to his friends, family and colleagues.
Yes, very sad news. Campbell’s offerings were the highlight of the week for me and he is already sorely missed. A quirky blend of GK and cryptic fun.
Monday mornings aren’t quite the same without his delectations.
RIP Allan Scott
That is very sad news indeed. We looked forward to his puns each Monday and I loved his cryptic puzzles. He will be sorely missed by all of us solvers of course, but moreso by his nearest and dearest family. Our deepest sympathies to them all.
RIP Campbell
Somehow I missed this. A great loss indeed, sincere condolences to his family and friends.