Some of The Times Listener puzzles periodically appear in published collections.
Times Books published this early one of my partnership with Mike Kindred. The subtitle to the book is ‘The World’s Most Difficult Crossword’.
This is one of mine in a collection published by Chambers in 2008. I will hold the solution over to my next instalment in case any readers care to tackle it.
Solvers may well recognise that a word in a clue should be entered as an abbreviation, but not know the abbreviation. American States or Chemical Elements are frequent examples. The lists in the book offer (1) the full form as possibly presented in a clue; and (2) the abbreviated form(s) which may be entered. This was published in 2005.
Collins published this volume in 2006. The puzzle referred to in the final paragraph hides the names Samson Knight and Pavel Rezvoy in the correct positions for first and second finishers. I gambled on the order when setting the puzzle, thus Sam’s win was a bit of luck.
This is a copy of the solution to an Independent cryptic crossword I designed to commemorate the event. Read the highlighted perimeter letters clockwise from top left. I had by then joined the daily newspaper’s team, and always spiced up these puzzles with something hidden in the completed grid. One morning I sat in a tube train opposite a man solving one of mine. It was quite an achievement to resist introducing myself.
