Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose - Hardcover

Sandy-balfour

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1843540363 ISBN 13: 9781843540366

Publisher: Atlantic Books, 2003

Synopsis

Half a million people a day do it in the Telegraph. The Times claims almost as many, and the Guardian 300,000. Most people remember their first time, and everyone has a favourite. You can do it in bed, standing up, or on a train. You can do it alone, with a loved one or in groups. The Queen does it in the bath. It is not illegal, immoral or fattening. In fact it tops the Home Office list of approved entertainments for prison inmates. Crosswords are a very British obsession.Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose (8) is a personal reminiscence and a guide to solving crossword puzzles. But it is much, much more than a 'how-to' book. Each chapter is starts with a clue, and uses anecdote, history and autobiography to solve it, in the process describing something of what it means to love England.In the process, we encounter The Best Crossword Clue Ever, The Most Beautiful Clue in the World ('Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose' (8) )) and the eccentric personalities behind such legendary compilers as the Guardian's Araucaria and The Times'Ximenes.

About this title

About the Author

Sandy Balfour was born in South Africa and emigrated to Britain in 1985. He is an award-winning television producer and has been known, on occasions, to complete The Times' crossword.

From Publishers Weekly

Obsessed with the "narrative quality" and linguistic challenge of cryptic crosswords, London-based TV journalist Balfour sees them as an eloquent metaphor for life: "Crosswords tell stories about ourselves. Crosswords express our humanity.... And British crosswords do it better than any others." In 1983, aged 21, Balfour left his native South Africa, seeking "a bigger world out there, a world where ideas have greater currency, and where words mean more." Journeying in Europe, Africa and America, he became increasingly fascinated with cryptic crosswords, which he links to his travel tales: "We take a bus to the outskirts of Zagreb. Years later I see a clue for Zagreb in the Independent." Headed to Moscow, he took "three pieces of identity"-his South African ID document, his passport and an anthology of Guardian crosswords. He spoke with many crossword "setters," and some may wish for lengthier profiles of these erudite editors plus more anecdotes such as the one about a man who proposed marriage via clues hidden in a 1998 New York Times puzzle. The reader is introduced to the working methods of the Guardian's clever, prolific setter who uses the name Araucaria and has produced more than 57,000 puzzles. In Balfour's polished prose, "every word is pregnant with possibility." Doubly lit with wit, this memoir of layered meanings is written with the realization that "the invisible web of words that binds all knowledge is something real and tangible."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atlantic Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1843540363
• ISBN 13: 9781843540366
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288