Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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This will be Gaston’s 28th EV crossword. He has been setting two or three a year for ten years, so you will probably have solved his crosswords before and know what a range of themes he handles – and that you are in good hands.… Continue reading
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My favourite children’s comic ‘back in the day’ was Wham!, and unfortunately for those around me I still recall many of the jokes which were printed at the bottom of its pages (eg Q: What did the greengrocer say when he sold his last onion? A: That shallot!). The first few issues were largely the work of Leo Baxendale, whose creations included the memorable Grimly Feendish. Where am I going with this? Well, a mad (as they invariably were) scientist who appeared in an early strip was called Professor Botulinus Toxin, a name which stuck firmly in my mind. Are our setters (for Botox is bicephalous) also Wham! fans, I wonder, and just how feendish will this puzzle turn out to be?
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This is Vismut’s nineteenth EV crossword and in the six years that she has been setting thematic cryptic crosswords, we have seen them in the IQ, EV, Listener and Magpie series.… Continue reading
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Eclogue set crosswords for all the thematic crossword outlets. This is their sixteenth in the EV series.… Continue reading
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Ifor needs no introduction for EV solvers. Dave Hennings’ crossword database tells us that he has been setting them since 2010 and this will be his 45th in the series.… Continue reading
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The author Anne Rice, most famous for Interview with the Vampire, used the pseudonym Anne Rampling when writing a couple of slightly risqué novels. I believe that my fellow blogger, whose output frequently appears under the name Chalicea, uses the nom de clef Curmudgeon for her somewhat edgier puzzles. Though let’s be clear that we’re not talking here about the cruciverbal underworld inhabited by Private Eye‘s Cyclops, and certainly not the nether regions of decency explored by the appropriately-styled setters of the Craptic Crossword in Viz. Strong stuff this is not, although I’m sure the wordplay in 10a and the definition in 9d would never have sullied the thoughts of the demure Chalicea.
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I asked Bard, “If you COULD BE a crossword setter or a crossword solver, which would you prefer, and why?” His response made me think that as a setter he might struggle with the 400-ish word limit on an EV composition, since it could hardly be described as terse even after a few sentences have been edited out.
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I cannot see the phrase ‘missing link’ without thinking of an episode in Jennings’ Diary, one of the series of wonderful school stories by Anthony Buckeridge. For Jennings, it represents the prized cuff link lost by Mr Wilkins which prompts him to note ‘Mr Wilkins – missing link’ in his diary. For the somewhat irascible Mr Wilkins, who chances to read this entry, it unfortunately conjures up ‘a picture of a sub-human anthropoid monster, swinging among the tree-tops in some dark prehistoric era.’ I wonder whether this puzzle will involve any flapping cuffs or simian species from the Great Chain of Being.
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It is a pleasure to download a crossword by Piccadilly who has been setting them for 35 years and EVs since 1995.… Continue reading
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I write these notes under the watchful eye of a chameleon (not a real one, I hasten to add) who stands on top of my printer and whose name is Karla. The setter who shares that moniker is a new one to me – I think it unlikely that their choice of pseudonym is connected in any way to Culture Club or my low-maintenance pet, but it might perhaps have something to do with John le Carré’s rarely seen but often mentioned Soviet Intelligence Officer, the main reason why George Smiley dismally failed to live up to his emoji. Another namesake is the ex-ballerina in Jacqueline Susann’s Once Is Not Enough, played in the film by Melina Mercouri and described as ‘reclusive, mysterious and beautiful’, adjectives which apply to most, if not all, crossword setters. Along, of course, with ‘modest’ and ‘delusional’…