Posted on 3 June 20243 June 2024 by Alan Goddard

As many, but not all of you, will know, every year Bozzy (Nora) organises a lunch to celebrate the winners of the various competitions run as part of the 3D Crossword calendar. The two main presentations are for the 3D Crossword World Champion and for the winner of the RPM (Ray Parry-Morris) trophy. In addition, we present the Oberto trophy to a regular 3D solver in commemoration of a loyal and long-standing solver of the 3D community.

Twenty of us attended the lunch held at the Miller and Carter Oracle restaurant in Reading. Bozzy tries to organise the lunch at a venue near the home of the World Champion, which on this occasion was Rachel Sheldon, who lives in the area.

I sense some of you smiling at the grandiose title: 3D Crossword World Champion, as indeed do we in the 3D team. We all recognise the irony but factually it is accurate and harmless in the grand scheme of things. The RPM trophy commemorates Ray Parry-Morris, a celebrated 3D grid constructor who graced our calendars (as ’45’) with some awesome puzzles for many years. I use the epithet advisedly and recommend a visit to the crossword archives on the website if you fancy an historical treat. The truth is that the regular solvers who design their grids for entry into these two annual competitions provide the great majority of the grids included in subsequent years’ calendars. So to celebrate their achievements at our annual lunch helps cement the bonds of the 3D community and future calendar publications.

As is traditional, Le President Sirius (aka Eric Westbrook, the founder of the whole 3D enterprise) presented the trophies in his own inimitable way. Jolt (Jos) has put together a photo gallery of the event with photos taken by Nora and Suzanne Farquhar (below).