The winner of the April puzzle is Steve Corbett of Shoreham.
It came as a surprise to find myself again digging for the remains of King Tutankhamun, after Shark’s wonderful puzzle commemorating the discovery last year. However, I’m not sure it is possible to have too much Egyptology, and the combination of a Calluna grid with clues by Boatman promised a new and challenging experience.
Boatman is one of our most consistently original (and difficult) setters. His First Fifty book is my companion whenever I have a compulsory wait somewhere, and when his second book comes out, it will be just as recommendable. Here the letters missing from wordplay guaranteed some head-scratching, particularly when, as on days 13, 15 and 33 the solution’s head itself was scratched. There was Boatman trickery in the clue for INSTEPS: ‘If start for race was here [i.e. if R were in STEPS] could get bacteria’. Hands up all those who were thinking of athlete’s foot, and wondering what its medical name was (tinea pedis, in case that’s useful, and it’s fungal, not bacterial)!
‘Letters omitted from wordplay’ are a godsend to the setter, who can avoid the well-worn cryptic tracks and use devices which don’t quite produce the solution. In some cases, the word was mutilated beyond recognition: CON for TYCOON and ARK for KARNAK made solving tricky, while TBN for THEBAN gave the opportunity to mislead by suggesting that tubing might be the definition. MPOR for AMPHORA allowed Boatman to conjure up some image of a royal orgy on a dahabiyeh, but we were actually looking for an oil-jar.
I very much liked the disguise of RETIC(LE) as ‘heretic’; however, my favourite clue here by a long way was the beautiful Spatulas were dipped into retort for A(N)SWER. You know a setter is on form when you spend ages looking for the solution to a ‘hidden’ clue. ‘Dipped into’ was lovely, with its sense of ‘sampling a bit of’ but making the suggestion that those spatulas were being used to prod some chemical stuff into life. (Can you actually dip a spatula into a retort? Not sure, but you could have a go.)
With so many solutions thus disguised, the easy starters were at a premium. BABIES may have been the jumping-off point for many, but the straightforward DUSTBIN proves that an easy clue can be just as excellent. The ‘cycled’ bust put in din produced an object familiar to all of us — some may even have had their first experience of the pleasures of cryptic (though in this case deliberately loose and ambiguous) clues through the solution’s personification in that great old entertainment 3-2-1!
Calluna is — as all solvers will be finding out this month — a true champion among designers. The grid functioned beautifully, with the majority of long entries thematic and THEBAN and KARNAK making nice corner supports. There is one bar. I did wonder why 1ac was not SMARAGD, since the Egyptians had emeralds as well as SCARABs? I suspect the very Egyptological word scarab was earmarked early on!
I really liked Frank Paul’s surprisingly flexible cheeseboard, whose middle section was to be reversed. That clue would have been harder without the rather electronic-looking inclusion of ◄◄, relying on our interpretation of the top left hand corner. But I suspect many this month will have gladly taken whatever help was available.
I do like to learn from a puzzle, and here I found about the 21-year-old Lady Evelyn Herbert, who was apparently in the tomb very early on… and lived until 1980. So much for belief in the practical effects of those conventional ‘curses’ which must have made life in the ancient world so entertaining — but generally failed to prevent theft.
Our second visit to tomb KV62 was in a style very different from the first, but equally delightful. What a fascinating period that was, with the short-lived revolutionary ideas of AKHENATEN and the (sadly) equally short-lived offspring of THE YOUNGER LADY. Now I must be away, to offer due service to my sacred cats.
L-R: Le President Eric Westbrook with 2022 3D Crosswords World Champions Chris Cooper and Heather Knowles (aka Calluna).
Friday 31st March 2023
Sixteen of us gathered at The Market House restaurant in Cambridge, a lovely location where we were very well looked after. The owner, Bill Brogan, gave us a most interesting short talk on the history of the building and environs while we digested our excellent lunches (I so recommend the creme brûlée).
Le President, none other than Sirius, aka Eric Westbrook, presented the trophies to the winners in his inimitable and always entertaining way. In particular a new trophy in memory of Oberto, an enthusiastic 3D supporter, was awarded to Jac Corbett, who was unable to attend due to rail strikes that never took place.
Other invitees were also unable to attend for the same reason, but glasses were raised when the trophy and certificates were presented and accepted on their behalf. Garry Stripling, placed in both World Championship and RPM competitions, sent from Paris an excellent puzzle with a timely message.
Thanks are due to all for coming and making the day such fun. It was so good to meet friends again and to make new ones. Special thanks go to:
Nick Inglis, RPM Trophy winner, who brought with him a fascinating picture puzzle which had us all conferring;
Lynn Goddard for taking the splendid photos you can view below;
Marika Chamberlain for making an edible "Not a Piece of Cake Fialkový Medovník” (violet flavoured honey cake) as a facsimile of the World Championship slice of quartz — such a clever idea and so very tasty;
Alan Goddard for heading the lunch and for overseeing everything in our 3D enterprise, a huge all year round task which he does with efficiency and humour;
Eric Westbrook for making and bringing trophies, presenting prizes and as always, bringing his own form of bonhomie to the occasion.
Nora Boswell
The World Championship Cake
The "Not a piece of cake" trophy and the "Not a piece of cake Fialkový Medovník"
The photo shows, on the left, the legendary piece of cake, gorgeous amethyst crystals topping sedimentary layers of rock, awarded to the 3D World Champion each year. On the right is the replica cake baked especially for the 2023 3D awards by Marika Chamberlain for all of us present to share. Its proper name is Fialkový Medovník (violet flavoured honey cake). It consisted of layer after layer of cake all sandwiched together and it tasted spectacularly delicious and when cut the inside really did resemble the cut quartz of the original.
The Jewel in the Crown
The Jewel in the Crown trophy handmade by Eric
This trophy was specially handmade by Sirius in his (yet another) guise as a jobbing carpenter. We attendees had to guess its title having been given one clue: the trophy was to be awarded to Nora. After some conferring the group came up with the totally apposite ‘Jewel in the Crown’. A trophy truly deserved by Nora for all her work on the 3D project over the years and marking her deserved partial, but definitely not complete, standing back from just some of her many 3D tasks.
Oberto 3D Solver of the Year Trophy
Marika Chamberlain accepts the inaugural Oberto Solver of the Year award from Eric on behalf of Jac Corbett
And finally the new Oberto award in commemoration of a loyal and long-standing solver of the 3D Community. The award shows the tribute crossword created by three famous setting Johns in honour of a fourth, Araucaria, John Graham. The setters: John Halpern (Paul), John Young (Shed) and John Henderson (Enigmatist). Back in the day the four of them occasionally set as Biggles which I leave as a teaser for you cruciverbalists to consider. The award, for 3D solver of the year, for 2022 was given to Jacqueline Corbett. (The photograph shows Marika Chamberlain receiving the award on Jac’s behalf. The threatened rail strike prevented Jac from attending). The framed tribute was provided by Georgia of Coventry Picture Frames Express.
Alan Goddard
Upcoming deadlines
Entries for the May puzzle by Nutmeg and Mang are due by May 31.
