Sarah Lolley
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We Wish You a Merry Cryptic

12/15/2014

2 Comments

 
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Books have always been a big thing in my family at Christmas. When I was young, I would tear away the wrapping on new titles—from Black Beauty to A Wrinkle In Time—then spend the balance of the holiday lost in their magic.

When I got a little older, too impatient to wait my turn, I would surreptitiously sneak in some reading of the latest Dick Francis mystery, which my grandmother (the one who taught my father to solve cryptics) sent my parents every year. Even now, when I have virtually no time to read, I can’t resist adding a few titles to my wish list. Unwrapping a thick book of creamy, untouched pages is such a treat.

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.
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If there are wee ones in your life, the best gift you can give is my new children’s picture book, Emily and the Mighty Om. (It’s about yoga.)

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.

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Because each chapter is self-contained, you can hop around (as you do in a puzzle, Connor points out), skipping to subjects that interest you most before backtracking to the rest. The prose is uneven, and there are times when I wanted more depth than Connor provides, but the breadth of topics is great, and his careful referencing is impressive.

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 are you giving to the cryptic crossword lover in your life this year?
What’s the best cryptic-related gift you’ve ever received?
And if you love cryptics, what’s on your wish list?

Sarah


2 Comments
Vaughan link
12/15/2014 11:57:25 am

Australia’s resident cryptic genius is David Astle, whose books Puzzled & Cluetopia make good reading for cryptic fans:
http://mcalley.net.au/site/crosswords.asp

I’m tempted to get Alan Conner’s book if just to find out how Rufus wrote (and counted) two million clues!

Reply
Sarah
12/25/2014 09:29:12 pm

Vaughan, I'm adding that one to my list. Thanks for the recommendation. I actually did receive the New Yorker compilation I requested for Christmas, so I'm tackling that one now. Very interesting way of setting the grid: there are no black squares!

You might like this article on Rufus, which includes some of his favourite clues: http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/shortcuts/2012/feb/21/guardian-crossword-setter-rufus-80?guni=Article:in%20body%20link. I thought 2,000,000 might be a count of the clues he's published in puzzles, but assuming 35 clues per puzzle, that's a puzzle every day for over 150 years!

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    About Sarah

    I'm a writer, adventurer, amateur setter of cryptic crosswords, lover of "ah-ha!" moments, and exhausted mom.

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