75 Years of The Times Crossword - Tapa dura

The Times crossword has become ingrained in the fabric of British society and many of The Times' readers regard the crossword as by far the most important part of the paper. This book will celebrate 75 years of the most famous crossword in the world.

In 1930, the crossword was not keenly received by The Times and it was owing to reader pressure that the crossword became a daily feature in the paper. With the British love of wordplay, riddles and puns, the crossword soon became an integral part of life in Britain.
Included will be a crossword for every year since 1930 including the first ever crossword published in The Times and a specially commissioned 75th anniversary prize crossword. These crosswords will be taken from prominent days in history and will show the development of the crossword over the years. There will be specially commissioned articles from former editors, who are often compilers themselves, recounting their experience of the crossword. Perhaps the people with the most interesting things to say are the solvers. An appeal inThe Times has requested for crossword devotees to send in their favourite clues, anecdotes and memories about the crossword.
Did you know:
· Sir Winston Churchill was reported to have almost missed a cabinet meeting while pondering a stubborn clue
· Sir John Gielgud was an addict at the age of 84, 'I have found the crosswords a sovereign therapy during endless hours of waiting about while filming and during television'
· As stated in Clement Atlee's obituary 'Sometimes, his main interest in The Times was the crossword puzzle, which he unfailingly solved
· It is alleged that Montague James, a former provost of Eton college, completed the crossword while his breakfast egg boiled – and he did not, it was added, like his egg hard-boiled