This year, my list includes "101 Cryptic Crosswords" by Fraser Simpson from his days at The New Yorker: a combination of my favourite magazine, my favourite passtime, and my favourite setter.
But if you’re shopping for an adult cryptic crossword aficionado, you should consider Alan Connor’s book “Two Girls, One On Each Knee (7)”, which I recently read. It’s been out for a little over a year now, so I’m late to the game, but I enjoyed it.
The book is a mix of “how-to” instructions for solving cryptics, and musings on the puzzles themselves. Many of the themes Connor explores ( the setter as mystery writer , for example) are ideas that I’ve written about myself on this blog.
The title, as experienced solvers will know, is one of Roger Squires (i.e., Rufus)’s clues. It was his two millionth, and it appeared in a puzzle in The Telegraph in 2007.
What’s the best cryptic-related gift you’ve ever received?
And if you love cryptics, what’s on your wish list?
Sarah