An unambiguously funny passage is Mr Stimpson’s attempt – “grimly determined not to surrender” – to solve a crossword (or, as he thinks of them, “one of the beastly things”). This book contains more than 200 crosswords, perfect for a quick – but challenging – test of your deductive skills. More fool the adapters: the conversation could only have been more delightful if our heroes had digressed into discussing Playfair’s creator, Charles Wheatstone, who also found time to invent the English concertina and an electronic device that went on to be a key aspect of Scientology.

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers.May have some underlining and highlighting of text and some writing in the margins, but there are no missing pages or anything else that would compromise the readability or legibility of the text. The Guardian is an award-winning British newspaper that consistently rates as the most-trusted newspaper in the country. If you add in three drink-based puzzles and eight with some other type of food, that would make 16 puzzles with food-and-drink themes, which rather echoes your experience. The ecclesiastical setting might make today’s reader expect tweeness – but Gilbert, in his first novel, promptly shares a wryness and droll cynicism. Incredibly, Sayers tells us in a footnote that she has omitted a part of the conversation about whether RBEXMG might represent a date in a certain format “for brevity’s sake”.

You’ll discover something of my working methods and the lively relationship between setter and editor, you’ll have another chance to solve extra teaser clues and you’ll hear from the solvers who took the time to comment on the puzzles when they were first published.There are plenty of fish to choose from; they often have short names amenable to using in anagram clues, and we tend to find them funny. Michael Gilbert himself, and Close Quarters in particular, belong to neither the “cosy crime” nor the “hard-boiled” camp. An image of seaside rock no doubt entered my subconscious, because two puzzles about types of rock emerged much later. In his 1938 play Gas Light, Jack Manningham tampers with the lights and employs various other tricks to convince his wife, Bella, that she is imagining things and, by implication, losing her mind. I don’t think there are any valid anagrams that work at 19 across, which is perhaps a sign of the state of Mr Stimpson’s mind.

The same year, 1939, is pretty much officially the end of the Golden Age of mystery stories, and the year of publication of The Big Sleep, anyone’s go-to rowdier novel.I’m reeling them off at random: peculiar, diplomacy, courtesan, furnished, viscount, squander, sunlight, chasuble, clergyman, luminary, thousand, poverty, cherubim, treason, cabriolet, rheumatics, apostle, costumier, viaduct. I save the best unused clue and release it as a tease in the forum once known as Twitter, then any theme clues left over go into a new theme file. Change country: -Select- Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Azerbaijan Republic Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Islands Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Cook Islands Costa Rica Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Republic Gambia Georgia Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Namibia Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of Croatia Republic of the Congo Reunion Romania Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts-Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands South Africa South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Suriname Swaziland Sweden Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City State Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands (U.