Falcon has left the building
After thirteen and a half years, it is time to shutter the windows and lock the door on this forum. Following the move by the National Post to cease publication of cryptic crosswords, I had considered changing the focus of the forum to The Daily Telegraph cryptic crossword. It was the syndicated version of this puzzle that appeared in the National Post on weekdays several months following its publication in the UK.As regular readers will know, I had scaled back the scope of my reviews of weekday puzzles over the summer, intending to resume the full reviews after Thanksgiving. That turned out to be the very moment the National Post dropped the bomb on cryptics. I did review a few Daily Telegraph puzzles in last Saturday’s post. The experience of writing that post forced me to come to grips with how much time and effort go into each review. Furthermore, reviewing the DT puzzles on the day they are published in the UK would mean much tighter deadlines. With the syndicated DT puzzle in the National Post, I could be reasonably certain which puzzle would appear on a given date and could prepare the review several days in advance. However, now I would only have access to the puzzle at 7:00 pm the evening before its date of publication (midnight in the UK) when it is posted to the Telegraph Puzzles website. I would then have to solve the puzzle and write the review. While this would be the same process I follow for the reviews I write for Big Dave’s Crossword Blog, that commitment is only one review each fortnight – not six days a week, week in and week out.Moreover, the DT puzzle is already well covered by Big Dave’s Crossword Blog, an excellent blog regarded by many as the best crossword blog in the world.I also have many other interests competing for my time, most of which have been sadly neglected due to the demands of the blog. I will now have the time to pursue them more fully.In conclusion, I would like to thank you, my loyal readers, for following this blog all these years. I would especially like to thank those who commented on the reviews. It was always a pleasure to read your insights and to answer your questions. Finally, I must extend a special note of appreciation to the blog’s resident proof readers, Henry and MG, who diligently kept me on my toes by bringing to my attention the not uncommon errors, omissions and typos that crept into the blog. Adieu — Falcon
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