Guardian crossword editor Alan Connor, writing under the name Brockwell, dedicated a June prize crossword to his beloved Yorkshire Terrier, Eddie, who died earlier this year at the age of 16. The puzzle, published as Guardian cryptic crossword No. 30,038, featured a theme centred on Eddie's life and was designed to help Connor process his grief.
Eddie's story
Eddie arrived unexpectedly in June 2010, dumped in a wheelie bin, and was adopted by Connor's family. Described as an 'absolute sweetie', Eddie became a loyal companion for 16 years. His ashes are scattered in Brockwell Park, where he often chased squirrels. The puzzle included clues that spelled out 'FAREWELL EDDIE BOY' as a hidden message, known as a Nina.
June's Genius puzzle
In the same month, the Genius puzzle by Pangakupu asked solvers to assemble crossword cubes from sections of the filled grid. The solution involved combining corners to reveal a sandwich filling derived from the last letters of 11 and 13 and the first letters of 12 and 15, yielding the entry 'AID BOB COP DEN GAP LEG NIT RAT'. July's Genius puzzle is now live.
Cluing competition results
The cluing conference for BREADCRUMBS resulted in a rare joint honours for the audacity award, shared by Wellywearer2's Morse code clue and Newlaplandes's meta clue. Runners-up included Nestingmachine's 'Bishop dipped into my leftovers' and Etymon's 'Covering for fish reportedly spawned by Holy Mackerel'. The winner was 'Clues laid out in intricate book: ABC Murders'.
Reader engagement
Solvers are invited to leave clues for EDDIE below, along with favourite clues or puzzles. The breadcrumbs theme referenced the Guardian's 30,000th puzzle celebrations, with one Reddit solver describing the experience as 'gorgeous, beautiful work'. Alan Connor's book '188 Words for Rain' is published by Ebury.
