What You Said

2009 - Time, gentlemen, please

I discovered the theme this year - that's a first for me.
You're getting more devious with the passing years
Sorry - I'm not a fan of Dr Who
I have amazed myself. I have tried this before and got nowhere ... but within 2 hours I had completed most of it.
What about a quiz based on The Archers
We are not TV watchers, so we felt at a disadvantage and hard done by
A most enjoyable quiz
What a Stinker!!
I decided I needed a copy of 'Who's Who'. Just before I headed off on the wrong track I had a think and it it just suddenly clicked.
As always it made us dust off our thinking caps and kept our minds off the weather
Really enjoyed it. Thanks
Thanks for hours of inadequate intellectual fun
I gave myself a day off for 'Puzzle time'
I really ought to get a Chambers of my own as the book disappeared ... before we got to the end
Another wonderful, enjoyable, frustrating, annoying Puzzle
Thank you again for the pain and the enjoyment
As usual it completely dominated our family Christmas and gave a lot of fun and enjoyment to all
You always manage to take off marks for bad spelling, wrong parts of speech or any other of your fancy quirks
We rely wholly on Mr Chambers and Mr Roget, who like us know nothing about the wretched Doctor
I was so determined to get them all right(ha, ha) that I spent too much time changing and unchanging my answers & nearly missed posting on time.
Many thanks for an enjoyable brain exercise
Anticipation, frustration, jubilation. I even got up in the middle of the night to follow up an idea.
Latin seemed to be handy this year
My beloved mother passed away last week. One of the last things she was doing on the day of the stroke was this year's Puzzle. It gives me some comfort to think she was doing something she enjoyed so much.
Another puzzling Puzzle for your faithful followers
I hate to say it, but I think you're a macroverbumsciolist. (1. a person who is ignorant of large words, 2. a person who pretends to know a word, then secretly refers to a dictionary)
We had such a lot of fun completing this
It took us the usual 3½ weeks of fairly consistent head scratching and dictionary hunting
We noticed with amusement what seemed to be the emergence of the "double, double think"
We all loved it, and by all we include at least two new enthusiasts who, like us, can't wait for next year's Puzzle.
It kept us guessing to the end, but having a Dr Who expert in the family did help to get us started
I thought this year's Puzzle was a bit easier than last year.
It was encouraging how Chambers gave the exact word in the clue
How do you do it?
A brilliant Puzzle. My mother-in-law is 96 and spends most of Christmas trawling through the Dictionary
I have DOCTORED my answers well and, WHO knows, I might just get lucky this year
We are quite exhausted after the challenge you set us. As Poirot would say, "We have used our little grey cells".
A great Puzzle that has filled in these last few weeks when snow and ice have prevented me from unnecessary excursions.
Rather like an exam, you think you have the right answers but can't be sure until they have been marked
The anticipation of the Puzzle dropping through the letter box is much more than downloading it from the computer.
Never have my dictionaries and other crossword books been more used than during this Christmas period.
I'm just amazed that you can keep them coming - here's to the next one.
I couldn't put it down! It's quite different to other puzzles I have done, and I do enjoy cryptic crosswords
I claim (as usual) a total of 120 and yet expect that once again you will have caught us out at least once
It took me two days to 'get' 40b despite being aware that INCREASE was the only possible answer
Great Puzzle, couldn't wait for it to arrive, it was like an early Xmas present
It was very difficult to put down - we just had to keep on until we'd finished.
It has become as much of our season as bad jokes from crackers and Aunty Angie's sausage rolls! In fact they're very similar ... very nearly indigestible!
First time I've completed the Puzzle before Christmas.
Thank you so much for sending this excellent Puzzle to us
Fun, Fun! It gets no easier, there's always one or two that really tax me.
This is the first time we've finished the Puzzle before New Year
Slightly spoilt by a couple of errors
What a lovely Puzzle - could almost be a story line for the next Dr Who series.
I trust you raise a good amount for the charities. Such hard work on everybody's part deserves a good result.
I had an answer to all in 24 hours - so quite a few must be wrong and I'm wracked with considerable doubt
We look forward to receiving the Quiz, at which point everything grinds to a halt in the house. Christmas shopping, housework and even occasionally meals.
Was it easier this year, or am I getting better?

2008 - Theirs not to reason why

There is always a sense of excitement when the theme behind the first letters fits into place.
Solving it is like climbing Mount Everest. I can reach the point where I have the summit in my sights...but alas can never quite reach the top!
Once again a great puzzle and feeling of achievement when it was completed
The two outer columns eluded me for a long time, yet when the light finally dawned it seemed so obvious
The way you coped with the date of the event was an extra pleasure.
We would like to say how much the family have enjoyed this year's Christmas Puzzle.
Yet another stimulating and frustrating Puzzle
Very neat solution
Kept me up to 1 o'clock one night, just couldn't stop
As Machiavellian a delight as ever
We found it very difficult - but great fun
I have so enjoyed doing this Puzzle - in fact I haven't had so much pleasure since I used to complete 'Ximenes' crosswords in The Observer
I wish I had found your Puzzle years ago
Hours of entertainment
A good taxing Puzzle yet again
Thank you for providing me with my Christmas mental excitement
I don't know where my usual slapdash errors lie but feel sure you will delight in telling me
A great Christmas challenge
I liked the number characters - very clever
We look forward to this Puzzle every Christmas and wish we had come across it sooner
I hide it until Christmas Eve otherwise we'd never be ready for Christmas
Another cracking Puzzle
It has become part of Christmas, sitting around the tree with our various copies, reference books, Chambers (and the odd laptop)
Our new edition of Chambers, which was a Christmas present, was put to good use.
The biggest groan came when I realised that the clue was not after all railroad, but RAIL on its own
You must have a bit of a fiendish brain
I was clutching at straws for the 80th clue and couldn't believe the audacity of the Onesimus one
Took ages and got me out of lots of chores
The highlight of the year.
My husband says its worth £20 for the length of time it keeps me quiet
An interesting challenge
Another Christmas treat. Most enjoyable
Really enjoyed the Puzzle. Took me ages to work out the cannons - but read a lot of Tennyson
An explosive quiz, with cannons to the right and cannons to the left. Unfortunately I got shot down and just couldn't do 40b
I really look forward to the envelope arriving mid-December and the revelation of the 'theme' for the year
A useful diversion from Christmas excess
He'll still find a way to take ½ mark off
I'm 80 and it's a good test of the old grey matter
It was just the right level of difficulty, i.e. challenging but not so difficult that I lost interest
It admirably took the place of the Sunday Telegraph's Enigmatic Variations, which did not appear on the Sunday after Christmas
Quite difficult and challenging but very satisfying when I got there
Very enjoyable after initial panic over the numbers
Many hours have been spent with friends and family pouring over it.
A cleverly constructed Puzzle
For a Christian man you have a very devious mind
It took a little while for the penny to drop but the three columns with cannons to the left and right was a very nice touch
I have really tried to concentrate and hope that this year I have made it (score 118½)
I can honestly say I have done every single answer myself, so I feel quite proud
At last all the reference books are back on the shelf - for another 10 months anyway
My husband is looking forward to a proper meal sitting at the dining table once again
What a stinker - you now have me hooked
I still can't get the reference to the 10 objects and the poet
We enjoyed it greatly (apart from the physical discomfort of sitting long hours under Mr Chambers Dictionary and Mr Roget's Thesaurus)
It kept us guessing to the last minute
My family thought I spent far too long on it: time I apparently should have spent more usefully helping with the Christmas shopping, decorating the house etc.
I hope no one ever has to look at what I've been researching on the net - they would probably be most suspicious of all the searches for cannons and artillery
You must know how much we aficionados appreciate all the hard work you put in to this yearly effort
If and when I am ever marooned on the desert island, I would be very happy to have my Bible and Chambers as company - sources of endless fascination

2007 - The birds and the bees

Below are some of your comments on the puzzle from 2007;

Brilliant - and most enjoyable.
Utter despair - followed by almost total jubilation.
I enjoyed solving this one - especially the sneaky bits - George W Bush indeed!!
A sheer joy.
I'm still allergic to computers.
You clever devious man.
Some of the clues were stinkers, some were abstruse and some were really witty.
Perhaps not quite up to last year's standard, where the theme was particularly neat and added to the fun, but still a fine piece of work.
Loved Tungsten!
You gave me a lot of pleasure - and frustration.
Never thought I'd get the hang of your quiz, but once the first bird appeared it became much clearer and I enjoyed it very much.
My 5th year of doing the Puzzle. I am now virtually bald!
Some weird and wonderful words.
We loved it; we scratched our heads, bought a Chambers and still scratched our heads.
A wonderful way to spend Christmas with rubbish on the TV.
As fiendish as ever - looking forward to next year's already.
I'm still seething at having misspelt Eeyore last year.
I solved this quicker than the others - but that doesn't mean it was easy - maybe I'm getting better.
I fear the Holy Grail of a perfect score may elude us for some years, but we feel we are improving.
I nearly put it in the bin, but once I understood the instructions I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This is the first year I've even come close.
Congratulations on the obvious effort you have to put in to produce such a superb puzzle.
As usual we found your 'helpful' clue hard to crack!
As usual much time wasted, but great satisfaction gained.
After the mental rigours of the 2006 puzzle it was a relief that this puzzle was a little more straightforward.
I was particularly interested to know that London taxi-drivers have to be Callipygean.
Not wishing to be a zoilist I think it was easier than previous ones - even if some tatterdemalions beg to differ.
I don't like to think about the number of hours I spend doing it - I could have decorated the kitchen.
Christmas wouldn't be the same for us or, I am sure, your many disciples without the Puzzle.
Callipygean has definitely been the 'in' word this Christmas.
Were you aware that the 1993 edition of Chambers has YAKINONA, but by the 2003 edition this has changed to YAKIMONO?

2006 - 5 out of 5

Below are some of your comments on the puzzle from 2006;

Thank you so much for another splendid quiz.
We did not find it at all easy. Being bears of very little brain we still haven't managed to solve the 'helpful' clue.
It was more ingenious and satisfying to solve than ever.
The theme took me some time to understand and when broken showed me two errors, now corrected!
Now can I get back to all the deferred jobs?
We always save the quiz until everyone is together at Christmas - but there is a bit of competition to have first turn at the 'easy' answers.
I shudder to think what is in store next.
For the third year we have had great fun competing with your ingenious mind.
It was Eureka day on Friday when I got the final answer (first time ever).
I especially enjoyed the way in which you worked Woolworth, High Street, Ant & Dec, Dickens & Jones, Marks & Spencer and Waterstone, each into 2 separate answers.
We only discovered the quiz in 2004 - What have we been missing?
Thank you for another brilliant brain teaser. Hugely enjoyed!
I am still kicking myself for the dropped mark in 2003.
I am MORTIFIED at misspelling Eeyore because I am a lifelong devotee. To quote Eeyore from Winnie-the-Pooh Chapter 6 "'Pathetic' he said, 'That's what it is, pathetic'".
Congratulations on the amazing amount of money you have raised - long may it continue.
Solved the theme a little earlier this year but no less satisfying. Roll on December 2007.
Our family spent many hours at home and in the library working on the puzzle.
Thanks so much for hours of fun at the expense of dreary chores. The hall, stairs and landing were due to be decorated but pursuit of rogue answers took a higher claim.
It must be heartening to be in the thoughts of so many, even if they are cursing you.
This was the best yet.
Well, I think you excelled yourself this year. I went from order to chaos and back again more times than I care to remember.
Puzzles within puzzles.
We didn't quite manage to finish - but we had great fun trying.
I thought perhaps it was easier this year. Wow, was that a mistake. However, I have finally made it and I really think I have the full 120 this time.
Thank you for the hours of pleasure you have given.
Christmas and most of January wouldn't be the same without your Puzzle. We eventually got from 'Chaos' to 'Order' via frustration, inspiration and dear Mr Cambers.
Thank you for driving us mad once again.
Totally fiendish Puzzle. Kept me well entertained over the hols.
Christmas wouldn't seem complete without it.
I struggled with some of the endings.
It is a relief when that last clue is solved, but sad to think we have to wait so long for the next Puzzle.
An afternoon in the library merely told me that the Basque people do not regard spelling as of any importance.
You win!!! We give up. We have got ourselves in a dreadful mess, and before we get dragged down the plughole, have decided to stop struggling.
It's amazing what you can do with the English language if you really try. But I don't need to tell you that, I'm sure.
We have been attempting your quiz for several years, with varying levels of success, and feel this one has probably been the most demanding and, equally, enjoyable.
We have hardly had time to notice how wet December and January have been.
We sat either side of the dining table, surrounded by dictionaries and reference books our pleasure growing with each clue we managed to solve.
I'm still hoping for that elusive 120.
We went down one or two blind alleys but got there in the end.
Would it be possible for you to do a Puzzle during the summer?
I solved the Chaos to Order them right at the end and felt extremely clever, but it was so late that it only helped with 2 starting letters.
It's an addictive Puzzle.
I am longing for the opportunity to use the word 'Tohu buhu'
An ingenious puzzle - in fact 4 or 5 puzzles rolled into one.
Many thanks for a very challenging Puzzle. I wish I'd discovered it years ago.
I'm tickled pink to be one of your prize winners this year. Your reference to the enjoyment of the moment 'when the penny finally drops' is absolutely right.

2005 - Vitaï Lampada

Below are some of your comments on the puzzle from 2005;

I thoroughly enjoyed the battle yet again. I look forward to next year, amused at a colleague's horror at being docked ½ mark.
Wow, what a quiz!
Great puzzle, my dictionary hasn't been used so much in ages.
Thank you for yet another testing puzzle - harder than ever this year.
Friday morning was as normal: Puzzle received by 9.30am, took the bus to the local photocopy-shop, three copies made then home. By the end of day two we have not a clue - but we shall keep going.....As you enjoy your Christmas spare a moment for we poor wretches still struggling.
It is a long while since I read Shakespeare and it is certainly different reading it upside down.
I don't know how people wait until Christmas before starting. I have to get cracking the moment I open the envelope.
It took a while but we got there, hopefully, in the end.
Your devilish puzzles have become a highlight of Christmas and helped develop a warm rivalry among friends.
Once again Christmas went on hold as soon as the Quiz arrived. Can it be that you are running out of words? Yardang was the answer to 22a last year.
Hewgh - no not imitating the whistling of an arrow - but me sighing with relief that I've made it to the end.
It was as much fun as ever.
The usual past month of frustration and commitment.
Our youngest came up with the 'old farmer' this morning - she works with small children - made us laugh.
I had completed 116 answers before I discovered what the "help" was. This type of quiz gives one's brain a good challenge.
I found 100 words before my niece cracked the code and passed the information on to me! Is this regarded as cheating?
Brilliant quiz, as ever. Shakespeare stumped us for a while.
Those hours spent scrutinising Chambers - at two this morning through a magnifying glass - have highlighted that the time to purchase my first pair of reading glasses has arrived.
Yet another frustrating quiz - but oh, how so enjoyable.
Kept our family happily occupied for many hours over the Christmas period.
It certainly taxed the 'little grey cells', and I must admit it came easier after solving the puzzle of the first letters.
Enjoyed this puzzle, but found it difficult. I have been waiting for inspiration but it failed to come.
I think your mind gets more devious as the years go by! Was so delighted when I realised what "PLAY UP" actually meant.
My family and I, numbering between us seven graduates from good universities in disciplines ranging from neuroscience to English and history, via law and economics, made a sadly poor attempt this year.
YIPEEEEEEEE. YAB-A-DAB-A-DOOOOO!! WHOOPEEEEE. After 10 years 100%.
Thank you so much for my prize. I have used it to buy a Chambers dictionary. Before purchase I checked whether it contained 'vraic' and 'xanthochroi' as an indication of suitability.
The last three clues gave me the most headaches until I took your advice and ignored the punctuation when all became clear. I should have guessed earlier.
This is the first time I have ever not been sure that I had all 120 right (they may not have been right, but I thought they were when I did them).
Tackling the quiz is reward in itself, we experience withdrawal symptoms in January and can't wait for the next one to arrive to stretch our brains.
You had a number of sneaky bits in the puzzle but the sneakiest and best is your last line. I laughed out loud when I worked that out.
NOAH enterprises can often be a place of surprises. It certainly was last week when two lovely ladies dropped in with a cheque for £1,000.
We are grateful to Joyce and Irene for nominating the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home to benefit and thank you so much for choosing us.

2004 -

Below are some of your comments on the puzzle from 2004;

This year I had to forbid my husband to start on it until I had tried - and as I was getting ready for Christmas he had to wait sometime - much to his chagrin. I want you to know how much we enjoy doing the puzzle
What a lovely way of wasting time
Christmas and New Year would not be the same without the quiz
Another brilliant puzzle. Took a while to get the starting letters, but having got these kept mother-in-law busy all Christmas with a dictionary on her knees.
I do enjoy the annual puzzle. Difficult but not impossible. What more can a puzzler ask? Congratulations on keeping the little grey cells jumping about and supporting so many worthwhile charities.
Some of your words are wonderful and don't appear in my 'Oxford' at all!
Another amazing quiz! How do you do it? Thank you so much for giving me hours of enjoyment.
Have not enjoyed this Quiz as much as in previous years - perhaps because we took longer to get into it and work out your 'clues' part. Very confusing! But well done again for keeping me out of mischief for a few weeks.
We have had fun with this again this year. Writing neatly today brought back memories of the excessively hot days in the week we did most of it in Sydney.
As usual we save the quiz until Christmas Eve when everyone is together. And as usual it always causes a problem! Well, everyone wants to have a look first to get all the easy answers and to look really clever. But it's the unusual words that we like to search for best of all.
Thank you for giving me so many enjoyable, though sometimes maddening hours trying to find the solutions.
Thank you very much for the time and trouble you have taken in preparing the puzzle. We got less than ¾ of the answers (assuming we got them right!) but it gives us a lot of enjoyment.
Have really enjoyed doing this puzzle, although I found it hard in places and have no doubt that I have included a few howlers or worse. What the blazes though, it's all in a good cause, so who cares?
I look forward to the day in December when it comes through the letter box. I raced away with most of the solutions. My son said, "Slow down or you won't have anything to do over the Christmas holiday." I don't think he wanted me to solve it too quickly as he had bought me the Chambers Dictionary for Christmas, and I certainly needed it at the end!
Much pleasure and frustration with the puzzle as usual. Can now use the kitchen table again for meals having put away a multitude of reference books.
Thank you once again for another superb puzzle - possibly the best ever. The pleasure I derive from gradually overcoming the various hurdles and breaking the code is hard to convey.
It always amazes me how long I've spent looking for just one word - I'd never dream of totalling the hours spent overall! But something sours you on until it's found - determination or plain stubbornness, I've not yet decided. Thanks for hours of amusement; I'll feel liberated once I get this in the post!
Thank you for another wonderful quiz. Firmly part of our Christmas - it may not be touched till 24th when we all start at once.
Thank you so much for another wonderful puzzle! We really look forward to it every year and get excited when it arrives.
When I picked up the envelope I recognised the handwriting but had no inkling of what lay within. Once opened the buzz started. Since then I've sworn at you (whilst seeing you laugh back of course) and laughed with you (acknowledging your sagely nods). I hope you can recollect the delights you enjoyed when you compiled those fiendishly satisfying conundrums - and relive the moments.