Falcon has left the building
After thirteen and a half years, it is time to shutter the windows and lock the door on this forum. Following the move by the National Post to cease publication of cryptic crosswords, I had considered changing the focus of the forum to The Daily Telegraph cryptic crossword. It was the syndicated version of this puzzle that appeared in the National Post on weekdays several months following its publication in the UK.As regular readers will know, I had scaled back the scope of my reviews of weekday puzzles over the summer, intending to resume the full reviews after Thanksgiving. That turned out to be the very moment the National Post dropped the bomb on cryptics. I did review a few Daily Telegraph puzzles in last Saturday's post. The experience of writing that post forced me to come to grips with how much time and effort go into each review. Furthermore, reviewing the DT puzzles on the day they are published in the UK would mean much tighter deadlines. With the syndicated DT puzzle in the National Post, I could be reasonably certain which puzzle would appear on a given date and could prepare the review several days in advance. However, now I would only have access to the puzzle at 7:00 pm the evening before its date of publication (midnight in the UK) when it is posted to the Telegraph Puzzles website. I would then have to solve the puzzle and write the review. While this would be the same process I follow for the reviews I write for Big Dave's Crossword Blog, that commitment is only one review each fortnight – not six days a week, week in and week out.
Moreover, the DT puzzle is already well covered by Big Dave's Crossword Blog, an excellent blog regarded by many as the best crossword blog in the world.
I also have many other interests competing for my time, most of which have been sadly neglected due to the demands of the blog. I will now have the time to pursue them more fully.
In conclusion, I would like to thank you, my loyal readers, for following this blog all these years. I would especially like to thank those who commented on the reviews. It was always a pleasure to read your insights and to answer your questions. Finally, I must extend a special note of appreciation to the blog's resident proof readers, Henry and MG, who diligently kept me on my toes by bringing to my attention the not uncommon errors, omissions and typos that crept into the blog.
Adieu — Falcon
Good morning, I'm spending the weekend in cottage country and left my cryptic crossword computer at home. I found a couple of this week's DT puzzles to be devilishly hard. Have a good weekend!
ReplyDeletePeter
Glad to see you are getting into the DT puzzle. Big Dave's Crossword Blog is an excellent source of help. You will still have to sort through the Briticisms but over 13 years of solving the puzzle has been, for me, a fantastic education in all things British.
DeleteMy Dearest Falcon:
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow retired engineer who got into cryptics much the same way you did, I always felt a connection with you when I discovered the blog many years ago. I knew somewhere that this day would come, but sadly it seems to be too early. My thanks to you, Cox&Rathvon, MG, and all the others on the blog that made Saturday morning such a treat.
We'll see if the C&R cryptic ever resurrects itself - meanwhile we can always go back and redo some from the past. if the blog doesn't disappear. The best of luck to everyone!
Henry,
DeleteThank you for your kind words and your participation in the blog these many years. I wish you well in your future pursuits.
Falcon, Henry and Emily, thank you so very much being such an wonderful part of my Saturdays. Good luck and hoping to see you all around the net and in print.
ReplyDeleteI'll miss you all.
ReplyDeleteSal
Me too, Sal, me too. Please take care out there. My very best always, Heather .
DeleteThank you Falcon. Not sure how I found your blog but through it I was introduced to the DT puzzles and Big Dave’s blog as well. So thanks for that and all the help with the C&R puzzles over the years. Look forward to seeing your reviews on BDs.
ReplyDeleteThe Puzzler
Didn't know about this blog. Until now. Hope to see Emily and Henry find another forum (and that you'll be blogging, of course). I love their cryptics, very clever, very fair, very fun <3
ReplyDeleteDear Sir, I wish you the best. I have loved your blog for years. It taught me cryptics. I love them and therefore I am sad to see you go. Please be well.
ReplyDeleteAdieu Falcon - it was brilliant
ReplyDeleteHello once again from NYC my cryptic friends.
ReplyDeleteWhile we await the re-emergence of C&R, might I offer an alternative? I've been working the cryptic crosswords by Fraser Simpson published each Saturday in the Globe and Mail. I find them fair and well done (although not quite as clever as a C&R puzzle).
I've accessed the puzzles from PressReader, available at no charge through my public library.
I'd be happy to rejoin our group here for a weekly review if that's at all possible.
Richard
Hi Richard, Glad to see that you are still out there. The Globe makes its cryptics available on-line for free. This is the one from Saturday 19 November. Is it the one?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theglobeandmail.com/puzzles-and-crosswords/cryptic-crossword/?date=191122&T=0
Peter
Good morning, Peter.
DeleteNo, that's not the Saturday cryptic to which I was referring. I've tried the Globe and Mail's free daily cryptics and found them worthwhile but of a different style than I'm used to with C&R.
As an alternative to C&R, I've accessed the G&M's "Pursuits" section on Saturday which includes a weekly cryptic by Fraser Simpson. I find this puzzle a little more to my liking.
I access the G&M behind its paywall through the PressReader website. My public library gives me free access to PressReader so I can then access the G&M. Check out your public library to see if it offers the same service.
Richard
Hi Richard, I tried to access the Globe and Mail through PressReader via London Public Library and through Toronto Public Library. Neither provides access to it. Too bad. I can get the National Post and many, many other papers but not the G & M. Ah well. I'll see if any corner store carries it in my neighbourhood.
DeletePeter
Sad at the demise of the C&R cryptics here (and in the NP)...I've been doing Fraser Simpson cryptics in the Globe and Mail since their inception and indeed the ones from the former creator. We have found them over the years to be of extremely high standard with regard to clue creation, and he is exceptional at "following the rules".
ReplyDeleteAs well we have loved doing the C&R ones too (thanks to you and them!), despite the obvious US bias and some degree of....inexactness ... in clue structure. Nonetheless...sad to lose good and reliable cryptic crossword creators.
Have done various random Brit ones as we've run across them...some are indeed very difficult idiomatically.
Hope that C&R resurface somewhere and "Bah! Humbug!" to NP and Postmedia for chasing the last dollar down into the garbage heap.
Let's all hope for a resurrection of C&R in NP in 2023. Merry Christmas and HNY. Sal
ReplyDelete