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That must have been great Malone, winning those prizes. Back in the 80's we had a firm's outing on a riverboat disco and I won 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize- I haven't won anything since:-(

The only crosswords I've ever sent in are the only four Listeners I've ever been able to complete, not so much for the prizes, more to see my name associated with such an august puzzle - not sure what that says about me:-)

PS I gave the 2nd and 3rd prizes back to be redrawn. I was the assistant finance officer so it probably would have looked a bit fishy otherwise!

Brendan, your hat-trick of prizes probably looked very iffy, even though it was a legitimate result! I haven't won any crossword prizes for a while, but I have had a dozen dictionaries, two Telegraph fountain pens, the Inquisitor champagne and Prosecco and two lots of Hotel Chocolat stuff. (PS I never send in an entry unless I've solved a puzzle completely by myself.)

Good luck with your Listener quest.

Wow! That is a real treasure trove of prizes Malone. I did think that Londoners, like myself, should win more frequently than people from other cities, given the greater population, but it doesn't seem like they do. I even contemplated putting my brother's address in Edinburgh for the last Listener I sent in - Gosh! I'm starting to sound desperate now:-)

Perhaps we should start a support group - Cryptic Crossworders Anonymous, CCA.

Hi, my name's erm...Brondin and I haven't had a crossword for 1 week or a win for 35 years!

Brendan, I like your idea of a support group. I've got a suggestion for a name for the non-winners subsection - Losers Anonymous, LA. I would love to turn down invitations by saying, 'sorry, I can't do Tuesday - I'm off to LA then'.

I like it Malone, I've always wanted initials after my name...

Brendan CCA, LA, PU

Maybe prize winners should be entitled to put initials after their name.
IQ, EV, ST . . .

(Now, I just have to find a puzzle called Vicarage Crossword, or similar.)

I don’t often finish! Just missing 2 letters in the grid.
5D po?che
6D al?a
I think the second one seems to make sense with Alia
Can’t find or parse the first one at all. I enjoyed this solve. Hemingway was an early guess and it followed reasonably ok from there.

Hi aslac,
5d. potche, pot (a drink, tipple) + che (Shakespearean I)
6d. alga, a (one) + the last letters (terms) of all floating sea.

Thanks ginge. Should probably have spotted the alga one! Unlike above will send it in! Probably only complete 1 in 4. Have won azed and guardian over the years.