From then I was hooked, and was soon sampling all the broadsheet and tabloid papers – buying, begging, borrowing or stealing. However, in time and using assorted reference books, I eventually completed my first grid – to my surprise and immense satisfaction. At first I had little success, managing maybe a couple of answers if I was lucky before throwing it aside in frustration. Up till then I had never given the wretched, impenetrable thing more than a glance. In that situation even the delights of TV, radio and records began to pall and, in frustration, I turned my attention to the cryptic puzzle in my daily paper. That is until I found myself flat on my back with a chronic illness. At least, that’s the way I saw it for many years. Like pursuing a career, raising kids, wallpapering, walking the dog, writing a novel. There’s always something more useful to do. INTRODUCTION Crosswords are a waste of time. Text processed and typeset by A & C Black Printed in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.

The clues we have used have come from a range of newspapers and magazines – we are indebted to the crossword setters for making the puzzles interesting, challenging and enjoyable to solve! The publications used as sources include: Daily Express, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, The Daily Record, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, The Guardian, Independent, Independent on Sunday, The Observer, Radio Times, The Sun, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times, The Timesįirst published in Great Britain 2001 Reprinted 2003 This second edition published 2005 A & C Black Publishers Ltd 37 Soho Square, London W1D 3QZ © B.

Instead, we have credited the sources below. It would have been difficult and confusing to include the source of each clue in the main layout of the book. Crossword Clues and Extracts Throughout this book we have used parts of clues and clues to illustrate a particular style of puzzle and how to solve the clue.

Zoom meeting component crossword clue