instead of the unknown American, is now credited with being the first compiler of a British newspaper crossword. Most of the clues had three-letter answers, such as 1 across, ‘A coin (slang)’ which I’d say is a very British ‘bob’, while 4 across was ‘A tree’, so I’d guess ‘ash’. The word ‘honour’, or even ‘honor’, does not appear. Primitive though the result was, the readers of


the Sunday Express of November 2 1924 were, in the words of the delighted executive, “all over it”. So too were other nationals, which rapidly developed their own crosswords. Newspaper Features went on to provide a supply to provincial papers in the form of blocks or papier mâché matrices for ease of slipping onto printing presses. The rest is newspaper [clue D: time past, 7]. Early in 1930, the top brass of The Times,


which was fighting a circulation war with the Telegraph, decided that, like its rival, The Thunderer would find a crossword to be a useful weapon. “My son Adrian can do that,” declared


associate editor Robert Bell. And so he did. Adrian Bell, farmer, author of 20 books and father of BBC foreign correspondent Martin Bell, compiled the paper’s first crossword and the second and, indeed, every single one until other


Even Sir Max Beerbohm, literary giant and author of the novel [clue E: Oxford students make a splash, 7 and 6], was increasingly flummoxed. As revenge, he produced what he described as “a crossword puzzle with clues signifying nothing – nothing whatsoever”, such as ‘Nudist’s aunt? 6 letters’. The Times printed it, the ultimate crossword. Confusingly, six of the clues genuinely did have solutions but readers didn’t know which they were. A yet more extreme version of the clueless


hands were signed up to share the load, finally creating many thousands of them. Martin recalls his reactions as a boy: “I looked


at them and couldn’t understand the connection between the clues and the answers.” (Adults often feel that too.) His first contribution to journalism was going to post his father’s copy for The Times.. Later, he made crosswords but with only the


answers done. Clues, which were the tricky part, were then devised by Adrian. Bell’s clues became more cryptic (see box).


clue was described in The Times by the late Miles Kington (before he took his humorous column to The Independent). Kington and fellow members of the Instant Sunshine band entertained themselves by doing the Daily Mirror quiz – without being given the complete clues. “Who was the first man to blank the blank?” The team replied, “Captain Webb”, who was indeed the first man to swim the Channel. Then came: “What are the young of the blank known as?” “Sardines?” “No.” “Elvers?” “Right.” And finally, “Who was the first man to be blanked by a blank?” “Huskisson – run over by a train.” Kington and his mates must have had psychic powers. Like people who do cryptic crosswords.


Answers. A: Express. B: Churchill. C: Germans. D: History. E: Zuleika Dobson


theJournalist | 17


SCIENCE HISTORY IMAGES / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO


SCIENCE HISTORY IMAGES / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO


Looking back to:


1924


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