Category: Announcement

Just received my invitation to compete in this. It’s on 10 October, so a number of 10’s line up for me – a championship on 10/10/10, ten years since my first win, and with a … Read more “Diaries out: championship date for 2010”

Solving time – approx 16 minutes, without aids! Quite a bit of guesswork was involved though, and I’m not 100% certain of 11ac even after subsequent research. A first for me, although I suspect Tony … Read more “TLS 823 (March 5th) – cracked it!”

Long-term readers will remember that in early 2008 I sent a list of suggestions to the Times about the Crossword Club site. Discussion elsewhere has prompted me to do this again, so please comment on … Read more “Crossword Club – Suggestions time again”

Solved in just over an hour. Quite a bit tougher than the previous couple of weeks – I only managed about two-thirds of it before running off to Google etc for enlightenment. Hardly any “straight … Read more “TLS 819 (5th Feb)”

Solving time: a little under 30 minutes (2 mistakes) In fact my solving time might just as well have been “a little under 17 minutes (2 mistakes)” since I made no further progress with my … Read more “Times Literary Supplement – TLS 818”

Roy Dean, first Times Crossword Champion and current setter, is 83 today – the day when his last puzzle is printed in the Times. I believe the printed version has a note to tell you, … Read more “Happy Birthday & Farewell, Roy Dean”

The TLS puzzle is the only one on the Times Crossword Club site that we’ve never blogged (except for the Listener, which is blogged elsewhere). Well, I’m happy to announce that that’s about to change, … Read more “New blog – Times Literary Supplement – TLS 817”

Here’s a rash prediction: the 18 UK professional soccer teams whose home colours seem to me a reasonable reference in a present-day Times crossword. This is partly based on the fame of the team, partly … Read more “Football colours”

For those who don’t know yet next Monday (1st February) will be the 80th anniversary of the Times crossword. After a few trial runs in the paper’s weekly edition, Times Crossword No. 1 appeared on … Read more “80th anniversary”

The Atlantic Monthly puzzle by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon came to an end two or three months ago after 20-plus years of excellent gimmick-based puzzles without the extreme vocabulary of the Listener and the … Read more “More news from across the pond”