Ian Simpson
@iangsimpson.bsky.social
Engineer from Edinburgh, Scotland. Co-inventor of Square Routes®, a word puzzle that appears in The Times each Saturday.
A small #puzzle from Hull company Owbridges, advertising their Lung Tonic. The four numbered cubes must be arranged in a line to show a total of 20 on each long side. Unusually for this type of puzzle, the same constraint applies to the internal and end faces. Undated but c1920s?
October 13, 2025 at 7:52 AM
A small #puzzle from Hull company Owbridges, advertising their Lung Tonic. The four numbered cubes must be arranged in a line to show a total of 20 on each long side. Unusually for this type of puzzle, the same constraint applies to the internal and end faces. Undated but c1920s?
Crossword Reversi - Use your word power to turn the tables. Learn it in seconds - play it for hours. Players take turns to make words using letter tiles which can be reversed. Invented in 1992 by Dr Kenneth Miller and produced by Bear, Bear & Bear Ltd.
August 27, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Crossword Reversi - Use your word power to turn the tables. Learn it in seconds - play it for hours. Players take turns to make words using letter tiles which can be reversed. Invented in 1992 by Dr Kenneth Miller and produced by Bear, Bear & Bear Ltd.
An edge matching #puzzle advertising cruises from the Holland America line. The 9 pieces must form a 3x3 square with the pictures matching wherever the edges meet. Unsure of exact date this was issued, but relatively recent.
July 14, 2025 at 11:15 AM
An edge matching #puzzle advertising cruises from the Holland America line. The 9 pieces must form a 3x3 square with the pictures matching wherever the edges meet. Unsure of exact date this was issued, but relatively recent.
The Penguin Book of Sunday Times Crosswords, compiled by Derek and Elizabeth Jewell. First published in 1975, this is a reprint from 1978. Containing 80 puzzles with solutions, and a guide on how to solve cryptic crosswords. The cover design is by artist Robert Hollingsworth.
June 30, 2025 at 8:31 AM
The Penguin Book of Sunday Times Crosswords, compiled by Derek and Elizabeth Jewell. First published in 1975, this is a reprint from 1978. Containing 80 puzzles with solutions, and a guide on how to solve cryptic crosswords. The cover design is by artist Robert Hollingsworth.
Sheriff Court news from #Edinburgh, reported in today's Times newspaper.
June 14, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Sheriff Court news from #Edinburgh, reported in today's Times newspaper.
Crosswords: How to solve them by the late Ruth Crisp, a volume in the Hodder Teach Yourself series, published in 1992. Ruth Crisp was known to Guardian readers and others as the crossword setter Crispa. You can read her obituary in The Guardian here: www.theguardian.com/media/2007/j...
May 29, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Crosswords: How to solve them by the late Ruth Crisp, a volume in the Hodder Teach Yourself series, published in 1992. Ruth Crisp was known to Guardian readers and others as the crossword setter Crispa. You can read her obituary in The Guardian here: www.theguardian.com/media/2007/j...
A six-piece dissection of a cube by the late Kevin Holmes (trading as Trench Enterprises) of Stowmarket, Suffolk. Kevin sold beautifully crafted handmade wooden puzzles from a market stall in Covent Garden, London, in the 1980s. This particular #puzzle has two solutions.
May 22, 2025 at 10:55 AM
A six-piece dissection of a cube by the late Kevin Holmes (trading as Trench Enterprises) of Stowmarket, Suffolk. Kevin sold beautifully crafted handmade wooden puzzles from a market stall in Covent Garden, London, in the 1980s. This particular #puzzle has two solutions.
Found at the #Edinburgh Holy Corner #ChristianAid Sale today, Letter-Bags, A Word-Making Game on an Entirely New Principle. Invented by the late Alexander Miller. Only obtainable from Miss MI Drury, Kingstown, Ireland. Most online sources date this to around the 1890s.
May 10, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Found at the #Edinburgh Holy Corner #ChristianAid Sale today, Letter-Bags, A Word-Making Game on an Entirely New Principle. Invented by the late Alexander Miller. Only obtainable from Miss MI Drury, Kingstown, Ireland. Most online sources date this to around the 1890s.
Two #puzzles promoting New Zealand dairy products to the British market. Five pieces contained in an envelope must be assembled to make a square. From around the 1960s or 1970s.
April 21, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Two #puzzles promoting New Zealand dairy products to the British market. Five pieces contained in an envelope must be assembled to make a square. From around the 1960s or 1970s.
From 1930 and 1931, the first and second Daily Telegraph #Crossword #Puzzle Books. The Daily Telegraph's first crossword appeared in the newspaper in 1925.
April 7, 2025 at 9:18 AM
From 1930 and 1931, the first and second Daily Telegraph #Crossword #Puzzle Books. The Daily Telegraph's first crossword appeared in the newspaper in 1925.
From 1970, The Listener #Crossword Puzzle Book, published by Penguin, together with the second volume of #puzzles published a year later. Among the setters featured is Gong (Jonathan Crowther) who as Azed recently set his 2,750th puzzle in The Observer newspaper.
March 15, 2025 at 9:22 AM
From 1970, The Listener #Crossword Puzzle Book, published by Penguin, together with the second volume of #puzzles published a year later. Among the setters featured is Gong (Jonathan Crowther) who as Azed recently set his 2,750th puzzle in The Observer newspaper.
A Rubik's Cube with a secret - it's actually a working salt grinder from around 2009. Made to the same dimensions as the classic #puzzle, there was also a companion pepper grinder, which came with the red face on top. These were sold as Rubik's Cruet, but are no longer produced.
March 8, 2025 at 9:28 AM
A Rubik's Cube with a secret - it's actually a working salt grinder from around 2009. Made to the same dimensions as the classic #puzzle, there was also a companion pepper grinder, which came with the red face on top. These were sold as Rubik's Cruet, but are no longer produced.
Modern #Puzzles by Henry Ernest Dudeney, published by C Arthur Pearson. This is the second edition, undated in the front matter, but the dust jacket rear flap contains an advert for the Fourth Times #Crossword Puzzle Book which dates it to around 1936.
March 3, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Modern #Puzzles by Henry Ernest Dudeney, published by C Arthur Pearson. This is the second edition, undated in the front matter, but the dust jacket rear flap contains an advert for the Fourth Times #Crossword Puzzle Book which dates it to around 1936.
From 1976, Leadergrams by Frederick and David Bates. Answers to clues in the left hand grid form an acrostic spelling out an author and one of their works. Transcribing the numbered cells into the right hand grid reveals a quotation from the same work. #puzzles
February 18, 2025 at 11:40 AM
From 1976, Leadergrams by Frederick and David Bates. Answers to clues in the left hand grid form an acrostic spelling out an author and one of their works. Transcribing the numbered cells into the right hand grid reveals a quotation from the same work. #puzzles
The Crossword Addict #Puzzle, a 49-piece sliding tile puzzle featuring a #crossword design. Produced by Dodo Designs of Tunbridge Wells, England. Undated but perhaps from around the 1990s.
February 6, 2025 at 10:12 AM
The Crossword Addict #Puzzle, a 49-piece sliding tile puzzle featuring a #crossword design. Produced by Dodo Designs of Tunbridge Wells, England. Undated but perhaps from around the 1990s.
Weekend #Crossword #Puzzle Book No. 2, published by Associated Newspapers Group PLC, 1982. Over 90 quickies plus 10 real stinkers. Price 70p.
January 29, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Weekend #Crossword #Puzzle Book No. 2, published by Associated Newspapers Group PLC, 1982. Over 90 quickies plus 10 real stinkers. Price 70p.
The Fifth Four Square #Crossword #Puzzle Book, by Harold S Tribe and Roderick Morrison. Published by The New English Library, April 1966. 131 standard cryptic puzzles and a handful of specials, including 2 numericals.
January 20, 2025 at 6:58 AM
The Fifth Four Square #Crossword #Puzzle Book, by Harold S Tribe and Roderick Morrison. Published by The New English Library, April 1966. 131 standard cryptic puzzles and a handful of specials, including 2 numericals.
1/2 The John Bull Star of Fortune #puzzle, from 1922. The 20 pieces had to be arranged to make a six-pointed star, with £250 awarded to the winner and £150 to the runner-up. A further prize of £100 was offered for a solution which used half of the pieces face down.
January 14, 2025 at 6:36 AM
1/2 The John Bull Star of Fortune #puzzle, from 1922. The 20 pieces had to be arranged to make a six-pointed star, with £250 awarded to the winner and £150 to the runner-up. A further prize of £100 was offered for a solution which used half of the pieces face down.
Leisure Time #Crossword #Puzzle Book, published by Robertson & Mullens Ltd, Melbourne, 1945. 40 new crossword puzzles including 18 of the cryptic type. Also issued in a green cover, as seen in this 2010 exhibition: studylib.net/doc/11224441...
January 4, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Leisure Time #Crossword #Puzzle Book, published by Robertson & Mullens Ltd, Melbourne, 1945. 40 new crossword puzzles including 18 of the cryptic type. Also issued in a green cover, as seen in this 2010 exhibition: studylib.net/doc/11224441...
The Ten Spot Domino #Puzzle, c.1920, by Valentines of #Dundee, better known for their picture postcards. Four paper covered 2x1 wooden cuboids must be arranged to make a 2x2x2 cube with 10 spots on each face. There are 7 solutions, and another 2 with 11 spots on each face.
December 18, 2024 at 9:47 AM
From around 1985, #Crossword Cubes by Wellingtons Ltd of Stamford, Lincolnshire. The eight cubes must be arranged in a larger 2x2x2 cube to show 5 complete crosswords (the bottom face is excluded). Invented by Dr Kenneth Miller. #puzzles
December 9, 2024 at 11:28 AM
From around 1985, #Crossword Cubes by Wellingtons Ltd of Stamford, Lincolnshire. The eight cubes must be arranged in a larger 2x2x2 cube to show 5 complete crosswords (the bottom face is excluded). Invented by Dr Kenneth Miller. #puzzles
Weekend Crossword Puzzle Book No. 11, published by Harmsworth Publications Ltd for Associated Newspapers plc, 1989. Over 90 easy cryptic puzzles plus 10 stinkers. Readers could collect three barcodes and claim a free #crossword book by sending them off together with a 22p SAE.
November 28, 2024 at 10:10 AM
Weekend Crossword Puzzle Book No. 11, published by Harmsworth Publications Ltd for Associated Newspapers plc, 1989. Over 90 easy cryptic puzzles plus 10 stinkers. Readers could collect three barcodes and claim a free #crossword book by sending them off together with a 22p SAE.
Anatomy of the #Crossword, by D St P Barnard. Published by G Bell & Sons, 1963. Perhaps better known for his long-running Brain-Twister column in The Observer newspaper, Douglas St Paul Barnard was also a crossword setter for The Daily Telegraph.
November 25, 2024 at 10:13 AM
Anatomy of the #Crossword, by D St P Barnard. Published by G Bell & Sons, 1963. Perhaps better known for his long-running Brain-Twister column in The Observer newspaper, Douglas St Paul Barnard was also a crossword setter for The Daily Telegraph.
From 1993, Create-a-Crossword. Everything needed to make your own #crosswords. Step by step instructions from an expert, plus numbered grids for completion, a unique letter usage chart, and a fully professional #crossword dictionary. Not suitable for children under 36 months.
November 13, 2024 at 11:06 AM
From 1993, Create-a-Crossword. Everything needed to make your own #crosswords. Step by step instructions from an expert, plus numbered grids for completion, a unique letter usage chart, and a fully professional #crossword dictionary. Not suitable for children under 36 months.