February 16 2011
Clue-Crafting Update
Wonderful news, dabblers. Our Open umpire is now confirmed, a guru dubbed Loroso in the Financial Times, or Anax in The Independent. And when he’s not composing sleek and lethal clues for those two papers, then Dean Mayer [the bloke’s real handle] is a regular thoroughbred in the Times stable.
To sample his elegant cluemanship, visit his blog and plunge into his four sample puzzles. You’ll soon see why I’m thrilled to have his gimlet eye, as well as the reason I rate this part-time bass-guitarist-and-stockcar-racer as among the genre’s elite.
One small catch: our judge is taking a break to Italy all next week, the land of the iffy wifi, and may not be able to return his results with any kind of Protestant haste. I’m not worried, and nor should you be. It’s a buzz to have Dean onboard.
So let’s make life easier for everyone by aiming to send our shortlist (that’s 3 clues per player) across the world by Friday 2pm. This means all of us putting forward our self-chosen best four or five clues on Thurs night, Friday morning, and having others advise and trim into a master list. Can we do it? Naturalmente.
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As a PS, separate from the Open, if you wish to hear Richard Fidler and your own blog host discuss double-meanings, puzzledom and synaesthesia, then livestream here, tomorrow at noon I believe, or bookmark the spot for a later podcast.
Comments
Bev Dunbar — 17 February at 05:40PM
I loved the interview today. You were so funny! It was great to hear how you started off as a Lindsey Browne fan and progressed from there. Are you also a Sudoku fanatic? I love both. I try to complete one cryptic crossword and 5 difficult sudokus each day, nowhere near your attempt at a century!