Everyman says:
May 5, 2019 at 9:55 am
Good morning from Everyman!
This is a “thank-you” to all posters, solvers and commenters; also, an introduction.
I was lucky to take over Everyman construction from my extremely esteemed predecessor in February. Doubtless most participants here know this already, but here is why those are daunting and exciting laurels.
The Observer has a decent claim to having forged the crossword puzzle as we know it. Solvers have the highest expectations of its three series: Speedy, Azed and Everyman.
My paper is, I believe, unique among those which take puzzles seriously in not using an in-house editor. Each of us uses testers to refine clues and puzzles before publication. For me, this involves feedback that is a mixture of Ximenean and what we might respectfully term “civilian”.
Why so? My brief requires clues which are solid in structure and which are solvable by beginners and by occasional or lapsed solvers (gently reminding them that solving is a pleasure). Like my antecedents, I add a personal predilection for surfaces which appear to be genuine fragments of language, occasionally, dare I say, entertaining or amusing.
I interpret this in the form of a mixture of straightforward clues and some which may introduce devices and abbreviations which the casual solver may later encounter if he or she should move on to other puzzles. I use grids which reward the solution of each individual clue and I introduce some more arcane pieces of “crosswordese” only when I feel they can be easily inferred and hopefully later recalled as the solver moves on to daily puzzles and perhaps, after some time(!), Azed.
On occasion, I shall try to avoid the arcane altogether, as I did for the Easter Sunday puzzle, since it was likely to have been seen by more readers than usual, all potential converts to our world. There are, of course, other entry points, including some of the Monday puzzles, the Guardian’s Quiptic and the Times 2 Cryptic – all usually excellent – but this is a duty the Everyman must take seriously.
I’ll sign off, I think, as Everyman. Perhaps one day I’ll post here giving name, rank and serial number, but during construction, the veil of anonymity helps me fill the brief: the series, not the setter. I am conscious of the fact that on the Internet, nobody knows whether you really are the setter (or indeed any other kind of dog).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_you%27re_a_dog
My “bona fide” is that next week’s clues include the codeword “foxtrot”. And how could I know that otherwise…?