Product Description

This new book presents 60 of the best The Listener crosswords, the famously challenging cryptic crosswords from The Times that have attracted a passionate following. These innovative and playful puzzles are all themed, and many feature unusual grids or unconventional ways of inserting the answers to add to the enjoyment. They are graded by difficulty, and a solvers guide and solutions notes will help everyone to share in the fun and frustration.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #123555 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 183 pages

Review

The latest book from Chambers is The Times The Listener Crosswords.
This is a collection of the best puzzles from between 1996 and 2000.
They were chosen by taking into account the comments expressed by
solvers, as Derek Arthur explains in his introduction. Interestingly,
the puzzles are presented not in chronological order but in order of
their difficulty. So the book starts with an easy Pen Names by Smokey
and ends with the AGC winning All Square by Dimitry. This is an
important collection, especially as it may be the last Listener Collection
if sales do not meet the wishes of the publishers. I have made this
book our Book of the Month on the Crossword Centre.

About the Author

Derek Arthur is the co-editor of the demanding The Listener crossword, which appears weekly in The Times.

Customer Reviews

Difficult but high-class puzzles
Until about 1988, The Listener crossword was the only puzzle of its kind easily available in the UK - a barred-grid cryptic crossword with difficult vocabulary and a different element of uniqueness about it every week. Now it has competition from the Independent's "Inquisitor" and the Telegraph's "Enigmatic Variations", but still seems to attract a more dedicated following. Make no mistake: Listener Crosswords are difficult. Even an easy one is likely to take about ten times as long to solve as a typical Times daily puzzle. If you can't solve the Times or a similar daily paper puzzle in full at least three days a week, you should probably stay away until you can. Experience with 'plain' barred grid puzzles like Azed or Mephisto helps a lot too. You will need a copy of Chambers Dictionary for all of these puzzles (if you solve in a room with a computer, the online version is worth considering as an alternative to the paper one), and for some you will need the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Other books are mentioned in the introduction, but Brewer and the Chambers or Bradford Crossword dictionaries are likely to be very useful. The Listener is the only newspaper crossword series to include mathematical puzzles - there are five of these in the book.

So much for the puzzles, what of the book? Puzzles are printed as two-page spreads with a decent amount of white space, which you will need - for the second puzzle, which uses a complicated scheme of misprints, I used most of this space. The paper used is thick enough to take a few rubbings out. The puzzles have been reviewed and some clues amended so that you can safely use current versions of Chambers (2003 or 2006 strictly - 2008 appeared too late to be taken into account). There's a four-page guide to solving Listener puzzles, with useful advice. Although the puzzles are ranked by the number of correct solutions received, don't be surprised if some seem out of order - difficulty of this kind of puzzle is very variable. Solutions include clear explanations of thematic elements, answer words before any treatment required to produce the grid entry, and explanations of the cryptic readings of the tougher clues.

Quick note in response to the review under "product description". "AGC" = Ascot Gold Cup - an annual award from the best Listener solvers to the setter of the year's best puzzle. All the winners from the period covered are in the book.

Perfect for a crossword addict
This has been thumbed through most days by the user of the book since he received it. All the favourite types of puzzle in one volume. Good solid stuff.