Preface:

When Adrian Bell, our founder, died on the 5th September 1980, it was left to my father, Edmund Akenhead as Crossword Editor of The Times, to assume Adrian’s role as resident historian. When my father died on 21st December 1990, that role was transferred jointly to John Grant, as the new Crossword Editor and myself where I acted as his proofer throughout his tenure. When John died on 16th July 2012, that responsibility was left with me as Guardian of the Archive (now lodged with HarperCollins). I have tried to live up to the high standards of my predecessors as well as expand on their illustrious brief. My research has revealed a rich, and hitherto untapped area in this history, namely the War Years. Doubtless for reasons of security, old adages like ‘be like dad, keep mum’ became the order of the day, and somehow forgotten, or overlooked in the subsequent development of the crossword thereafter, thanks to the fine ongoing efforts of the three prime movers, Adrian Bell, Ronald Carton and his wife Jane. When my father came on the scene in 1965 as the new Crossword Editor he still had Adrian Bell and Jane to support him, but when he too eventually handed over the reins to John Grant, sadly the old guard were no longer with us, and now that John’s gone, I guess it just leaves me to try to ably fulfil my brief until October 2000, and I see that brief now as one where I can concentrate of the first fifteen years of The Times crossword, with all its birthing pains, which I’m afraid, with the exception of the stalwarts already mentioned, varied between the sublime and ridiculous – put bluntly some contributors were not up to it, and this became particularly clear in the war years where much needed crossword, bridge and chess brains were needed in the hallowed fields of intelligence and counter-intelligence on which The Times Atlas of the Second World War gives instances of not just breaking codes, and scrambling codes, but on much-needed occasions such as D-Day actually altering the original messages to our benefit, taking a line from our adversaries who were already rather good at that particular game too, with one or two notable inclusions in both The Daily Telegraph and The Times a couple of which I appear to have unearthed as well! Doubtless, harmless 80 years later, but deadly earnest, with due respect, for all parties thus involved at the time, and in particular for those who had to live through it all or perished in the process.

I have already begun in my Chronology of the War Years aided principally by The Times Atlas of the Second World War and The Times Archive, with Neville Chamberlain’s opening address, and the Emperor Hirohito’s gracious exhortation to his people to accept surrender with honour, and a concession by both Allied and Axis powers that the ways of peace between all nations were infinitely preferable to what had befallen both their alliances in six terrible intervening years. David Akenhead, 11th March 2021

Please note that this is a historical record and some clues may appear offensive to modern eyes. You will doubtless observe too that definitions, or indeed part-definitions were a secondary concern to the compiler in those far-flung days! Only in extreme cases will I exercise a little editorial discretion, or if they are totally incongruous to a modern reader, I’ve placed a suitable alternative but in the same style. Most clues come from February editions, and remember these are my Top Ten and intentionally range between those that may inspire, such as this in Crossword no. 1,567 from 1935 ▬ The first is played by mouth, the second and whole by hand (5,4) TRUMP CARD ▬  to the occasionally dire! – DA

1930 – Times crosswords

1. Saturday, February 1st

Crossword 1, 38 Across:

This elephant has lost his head (4) UMBO

2. Thursday, February 6th

Crossword 5, 31 Down:

Has driven many a good man to drink (6) THIRST

3. Monday, February 17th

Crossword 14, 16 Across:

Proust produces this if mis-read (6) STUPOR

4. Wednesday, February 19th

Crossword 16, 1 Across:

Theirs is a sort of pillar-to-post existence (7) POSTMEN

5. Tuesday, March 18th

Crossword 39, 25 Across:

This causes the sort of catch you would rather miss (5) VIRUS

6. Wednesday, April 2nd

Crossword 52, 1 Across:

Dervish becomes absolved here (7) SHRIVED

7. Tuesday, April 15th

Crossword 63, 4 Down:

In spite of appearances at the outset he’s liable to hit the rocks (7) FOUNDER

8. Friday, May 2nd

Crossword 77, 38 Down:

These birds may be found by beheading a founder (4) EMUS

9. Tuesday, May 20th

Crossword 92, 26 Down:

This tumbler might rob a cat (7) ACROBAT

10. Friday, May 23rd

Crossword 95, 1 Across:

This store expects what a gardener does to seed bags (5) DEPOT

Letters to the Editor, Friday May 30th 1930

1931 – Times crosswords

1. Wednesday, April 1st

Crossword 361, 26 Across:

An affair of love and war (10) ENGAGEMENT

2. Tuesday, April 7th

Crossword 365, 5 Down:

Meditate in bed (7) BEMUSED

3. Thursday, April 9th

Crossword 367, 35 Across:

Taken on departure (5) LEAVE

4. Monday, April 13th

Crossword 370, 13 Across:

East coast laundry (4) WASH

5. Tuesday, April 14th

Crossword 371, 16 Down:

Pleasant for the horse, unpleasant for the airman (8) STALLING

6. Friday, April 17th

Crossword 374, 21 Across:

A cockney might so describe the last horse in a line (7) ENDORSE

7. Friday, May 1st

Crossword 386, 25 Across:

This sort of chap may well get fed up with his fellow-creatures (15) ANTHROPOPHAGOUS

8. Saturday, May 2nd

Crossword 387, 10 Across:

Such bows are nonsense (12) FIDDLESTICKS

9. Friday, May 15th

Crossword 398, 10 Across:

This instrument should have appealed to Micawber (7) LATHE

10. Saturday, May 30th

Crossword 411, 8 Down:

They might be described as Statesmen (5) YANKEES

1932 – Times crosswords

1. Wednesday, February 3rd

Crossword 622, 24 Across:

C.H. wear? (8) BATHROBE

2. Thursday, February 4th

Crossword 623, 2 Down:

City father’s foster-mother (3-4) SHE-WOLF

3. Friday, February 5th

Crossword 624, 9 Across:

Lose a quid (anag.) (9) ODALISQUE

4. Saturday, February 6th

Crossword 625, 22 Across:

Chinese post is Han’s (6) SHANSI

5. Monday, February 8th

Crossword 626, 18 Down:

Swindle the people with a gift (8) DONATION

6. Tuesday, February 9th

Crossword 627, 26 Across:

What one expects to get from a run on a card (4) JOKE

7. Thursday, February 11th

Crossword 629, 21 Down:

Used for drawing people out (5) RACKS

8. Friday, February 12th

Crossword 630, 12 Across:

I got nothing thanks! (4) IOTA

9. Saturday, February 13th

Crossword 631, 6 Across:

Play about in a Cornish river (5) FINAL

10. Monday, February 15th

Crossword 632, 10 Across:

It’s a crime for a well-grown girl (6) BIGAMY

1933 – Times crosswords

1. Tuesday, February 14th

Crossword 943, 24 Across:

Frustrated condition of an egg (6) UNLAID

2. Wednesday, February 15th

Crossword 944, 19 Across:

Might we call her “Pinkie”? (7) MILDRED

3. Thursday, February 16th

Crossword 945, 3 Down:

Harmonised in a kind of love-nest (6) AGREED

4. Friday, February 17th

Crossword 946, 5 Down:

Omnibus overturned on purpose (10) SUBMISSION

5. Saturday, February 18th

Crossword 947, 9 Down:

The girl goes after the musicians to get something for the pocket (9) BANDANNA

6. Monday, February 20th

Crossword 948, 11 Across:

Proverbial courtship handicap (5,5) FAINT HEART

7. Tuesday, February 21st

Crossword 949, 1 Across:

A problem to be tackled squarely (9) CROSSWORD

8. Wednesday, February 22nd

Crossword 950, 9 Down:

Most sincere flatterers (9) IMITATORS

9. Thursday, February 23rd

Crossword 951, 15 Down:

Land of Hope and glory (9) RURITANIA

10. Friday, February 24th

Crossword 952, 10 Across:

Love of sugar (7) NOTHING

Letters to the Editor, Monday April 24th 1933

This Puzzle appeared in The Times on Saturday, April 22nd 1933

1934 – Times crosswords

1. Thursday, February 1st

Crossword 1,242, 14 Across:

What rowdy Cockney schoolboys want to call their teachers? (6) USHERS

2. Friday, February 2nd

Crossword 1,243, 9 Across:

Andrew’s goes astray (7) WANDERS

3. Saturday, February 3rd

Crossword 1,244, 18 Across:

Its choir is made famous (8) HISTORIC

4. Monday, February 5th

Crossword 1,245, 31 Down:

Liquor in baths, perhaps (7) ABSINTH

5. Tuesday, February 6th

Crossword 1,246, 8 Down:

Mid-term (anag.) (7) TRIMMED

6. Wednesday, February 7th

Crossword 1,247, 21 Across:

Marco Polo brought some of these back with him (10,5) TRAVELLERS TALES

7. Thursday, February 8th

Crossword 1,248, 2 Down:

Conservative golfer in an unbearable position (9) DORMITORY

8. Friday, February 9th

Crossword 1,249, 8 Down:

Deafening applause? (11) THUNDERCLAP

9. Saturday, February 10th

Crossword 1,250, 21 Across:

They dig up the dirty past (14) ARCHAEOLOGISTS

10. Tuesday, February 13th

Crossword 1,252, 9 Across:

Just the girl to invite back for a meal (4) ENID

1935 – Times crosswords

1. Friday, February 15th

Crossword 1,564, 30 Across:

Cause of inflation in the shoe trade (4) PUMP

2. Saturday, February 16th

Crossword 1,565, 5 Across:

Put out your money and get half back (6) BETIMES

3. Monday, February 18th

Crossword 1,566, 6 Down:

Lesson for a day at the end of spring (8) WELL-A-DAY

4. Tuesday, February 19th

Crossword 1,567, 14 Down:

The first is played by mouth, the second and whole, by hand (5,4) TRUMP CARD

5. Wednesday, February 20th

Crossword 1,568, 1 Across:

Suitable form of horticulture for Gibraltar (4,6) ROCK GARDEN

6. Thursday, February 21st

Crossword 1,569, 3 Down:

He shows me initiative in action (9) DEFENDANT

7. Friday, February 22nd

Crossword 1,570, 22 Across:

The last chapter of Leviticus and the first of Deuteronomy are (8,7) OPPOSITE NUMBERS

8. Monday, February 25th

Crossword 1,572, 6 Down:

Fondle a theologian in a silk hat (6) TIDDLE

9. Tuesday, February 26th

Crossword 1,573, 2 Down:

The green are not caught thus (3-6) RED-HANDED

10. Wednesday, February 27th

Crossword 1,574, 1 Down:

Some people find them elevating, others quite the reverse (6,9) MOVING STAIRWAYS

Letters to the Editor, Saturday October 19th 1935 (Crossword 1,770, 25 Down)

 

1936 – Times crosswords

1. Saturday, February 1st

Crossword 1,862, 11 Across:

“To love her was a liberal ___ ” (Steele) (9) EDUCATION

2. Monday, February 3rd

Crossword 1,863, 18 Down:

Tut, ladies! (anag.) (9) LATITUDES

3. Tuesday, February 4th

Crossword 1,864, 23 Across:

An impressive device (8,7) PRINTING MACHINE

4. Wednesday, February 5th

Crossword 1,865, 28 Across:

Sounds a suitable dish for the race starter (4) SAGO

5. Thursday, February 6th

Crossword 1,866, 24 Across:

What is it that makes one? (5) UNITY

6. Friday, February 7th

Crossword 1,867, 25 Down:

A graduate in the steerage (5) ABAFT

7. Saturday, February 8th

Crossword 1,868, 36 Down:

Sea-horse? (4) MARE

8. Monday, February 10th

Crossword 1,869, 8 Down:

Master of a bark? (3,3) SEA DOG

9. Tuesday, February 11th

Crossword 1,870, 4 Down:

Words for Hamlet and Aladdin? (6,3,3) THERES THE RUB

10. Wednesday, February 12th

Crossword 1,871, 30 Across:

The reverse of competent is to remain in exile (4) ELBA

Letters to the Editor, Tuesday July 14th 1936

1937 – Times crosswords

1. Monday, February 15th

Crossword 2,184, 18 Down:

Her success seems contingent upon colour (7) WINIFRED

2. Wednesday, February 17th

Crossword 2,186, 1 Across:

Cars are rated as many times this (6,2,1,5) STRONG AS A HORSE

3. Thursday, February 18th

Crossword 2,187, 22 Across:

The exhausted artist having lost his balance may be (9) OVERDRAWN

4. Friday, February 19th

Crossword 2,188, 10 Across:

Eat too much cheddar (5) GORGE

5. Saturday, February 20th

Crossword 2,189, 2 Down:

A random choice of men (3,4,3,5) TOM DICK AND HARRY

6. Monday, February 22nd

Crossword 2,190, 3 Down:

Theatre that prompted Shakespeare to write: “All the world’s a stage”? (5) GLOBE

7. Tuesday, February 23rd

Crossword 2,191, 18 Across:

The infantry assault begins as the climber’s ends (4,3,3) OVER THE TOP

8. Wednesday, February 24th

Crossword 2,192, 10 Across:

I’ll be among the French in France (5) LILLE

9. Thursday, February 25th

Crossword 2,193, 7 Down:

She should be a good chess player (5) MATER

10. Friday, February 26th

Crossword 2,194, 18 Down:

Wooden junk (6) LUMBER

Letters to the Editor, Monday July 12th 1937

1938 – Times crosswords

1. Tuesday, February 1st

Crossword 2,482, 4 Down:

Close when this and this (4) NECK

2. Wednesday, February 2nd

Crossword 2,483, 2 Down:

Four excluded weeks? (1,5,2,7) A MONTH OF SUNDAYS

3. Thursday, February 3rd

Crossword 2,484, 11 Across:

Was he paid blood money? (5) LEECH

4. Friday, February 4th

Crossword 2,485, 9 Across: (See Letter to the Editor below).

Ungrammatical products of a stereoscopic camera (6,9) DOUBLE NEGATIVES

5. Saturday, February 5th

Crossword 2,486, 14 Across:

Horseman (7) CENTAUR

6. Monday, February 7th

Crossword 2,487, 10 Across:

Kipling’s hero returns with difficulty in comic opera (6) MIKADO

7. Tuesday, February 8th

Crossword 2,488, 17 Across:

Suggestion of Blackheath (7) INKLING

8. Wednesday, February 9th

Crossword 2,489, 22 Down:

It is around me in front of you (5) TIMES

9. Thursday, February 10th

Crossword 2,490, 5 Down:

Hidden in a van that took a piano away (5) OKAPI

10. Friday, February 11th

Crossword 2,491, 27 Across:

Ornithological Whip (4) CROP

Letters to the Editor, Tuesday February 11th 1938

Note: Re. Mr Richards’s dilemma with Hamlet’s father’s ghost? Wrong play! But very much in keeping with Macbeth’s remark about Banquo’s! “If I stand here, I saw him”.

Crossword 2,485, 11 Across:

What a Shakespearean ghost wished to be (5) BRIEF

 

1939 – Times crosswords

1. Tuesday, February 14th

Crossword 2,804, 1 Across:

A bit crude (6,8) VULGAR FRACTION

2. Wednesday, February 15th

Crossword 2,805, 9 Across:

Suggests that the bugler will not be able to get another job (4,4) LAST POST

3. Thursday, February 18th

Crossword 2,806, 24 Across:

Does it reason that two singers are deceitful? (9) EQUIVOCAL

4. Friday, February 19th

Crossword 2,807, 5 Down:

The joys of travel (11) TRANSPORTS

5. Saturday, February 20th

Crossword 2,808, 9 Across:

Levi once displayed it (8) VIOLENCE

6. Monday, February 22nd

Crossword 2,809, 14 Across:

Wood nearly burning (5) ARDEN

7. Tuesday, February 23rd

Crossword 2,810, 16 Down:

She gives the giant a first class return (7) TITANIA

8. Wednesday, February 24th

Crossword 2,811, 29 Down:

Baby aboard, very slippy (5) SKIDS

9. Thursday, February 25th

Crossword 2,812, 7 Down:

To the racegoer the reverse of a postscript (8,6) STARTING PRICES

10. Friday, February 26th

Crossword 2,813, 15 Down:

An engaging act (7) PROMISE

Letters to the Editor, Wednesday September 27th 1939

 

5th Columnists at The Times? Angels and Ministers of grace defend us! (insightful for a’ that!) – Yet, had I been Editor of The Times, I’d have thought twice about publishing such a letter three weeks after hostilities had been declared! It was surely asking for trouble which wasn’t too short in coming – see my Blitz article and the Doorman’s infiltration it seems in Crossword 3,104 published on 2nd February of the following year, seemingly under the protection of the anonymity of Times crossword compilers which continues to this day! – Doorman’s sign-off is clear (with extreme irony, I venture to suggest, if I’m correct), with one of Kipling’s impostors from his celebrated poem If – DA

This letter appeared in the The Times on Tuesday, October 10th 1939

1940 – Times crosswords

1. Thursday, February 1st

Crossword 3,103, 14 Down:

Where people get hung (7) ACADEMY

2. Friday, February 2nd

Crossword 3,104, 1 Down:

A writer of the present day (7) DIARIST

3. Saturday, February 3rd

Crossword 3,105, 17 Across:

Qualified for brief employment (6,2,3,3) CALLED TO THE BAR

4. Monday, February 5th

Crossword 3,106, 24 Across:

He often takes a bath (6) OLIVER

5. Tuesday, February 6th

Crossword 3,107, 11 Across:

It was more interested in the fleet than Fleet Street (5,4) PRESS GANG

6. Wednesday, February 7th

Crossword 3,108, 10 Across:

Motorists engage in this, generally, after beginning the drive (3,4) TOP GEAR

7. Thursday, February 8th

Crossword 3,109, 24 Down:

Old stockings (5) HOSEN

8. Friday, February 9th

Crossword 3,110, 2 Down:

Musical sleeves (5) GREEN

9. Saturday, February 10th

Crossword 3,111, 9 Across:

Implying that the accountants are unsteady (7) TOTTERS

10. Monday, February 12th

Crossword 3,112, 9 Down:

Evidently not once more at a loss (5) AGAIN

This sobering announcement appeared on Page 6 of The Times – Monday April 29th, 1940

SIZE OF PAPERS

SAFEGUARDING STOCKS OF NEWSPRINT

As an additional measure of precaution designed to conserve the stocks of newsprint, The Times, in common with other newspapers, is for the present further limiting the number of its pages. Scandinavia is an important source of supply for the pulp from which newspapers are made, and imports from that area are necessarily suspended. At the same time, the great demand for shipping for all war purposes has restricted access to other sources of supply.

The standard size of The Times under these conditions will from today be 12 pages, other newspapers making a proportionate reduction. That means inevitably the curtailment of some of the established features of the paper, though every effort will be made to preserve them so far as that is compatible with the full presentation of essential news, and preparations for saving space in other directions have long been put in hand. Thus such regular features as Monday’s agricultural notes, news of music, films, and the theatre; the crossword puzzle and the contributions on fashion and household matters; the Tuesday bridge article, the Saturday religious article, and the golf article will all be continued, though it may be necessary to shorten some of them.

City news must also undergo some compression; but nothing will be spared to give the fullest practicable record of the day’s events in finance and commerce. The same will hold true of the Parliamentary and Law Reports. The need for conciseness in letters to the Editor will manifestly be greater than ever. It is intended, however, to maintain to the full The Times service of dispatches from all parts of the Empire and from foreign countries.

Meanwhile the space that can be devoted to advertisements will be carefully apportioned with the aim of helping every advertiser who uses the columns of The Times.

1941 – Times crosswords

1. Saturday, February 15th

Crossword 3,426, 11 Down:

Infuse ‒ was the usual truth about Don Bradman? (6) INSTIL

2. Monday, February 17th

Crossword 3,427, 10 Across:

In the French we discover intelligence (4) NOUS

3. Tuesday, February 18th

Crossword 3,428, 18 Across:

Is such flattery affected by rationing? (9) BUTTERING

4. Wednesday, February 19th

Crossword 3,429, 3 Down:

A Nile swamp is turned to tapestry (7) GOBELIN

5. Thursday, February 20th

Crossword 3,430, 5 Across:

Office the worse for drink and reserved (6) OFFISH

6. Friday, February 21st

Crossword 3,431, 8 Down:

Raid? I’m going up here as the airman might have said (6) MIDAIR

7. Saturday, February 22nd 

Crossword 3,432, 21 Down:

It suggests a sound picture of a pleased cat (7) PURVIEW

8. Monday, February 24th

Crossword 3,433, 4 Down:

Many owe much to the old stage coach (6) ACTORS

9. Tuesday, February 25th

Crossword 3,434, 13 Across:

No sugar, I’m reformed (9) IGNORAMUS

10. Wednesday, February 26th

Crossword 3,435, 19 Down:

Did this creature invent the sidewalk? (8) LANDCRAB

This tribute was found alongside Times Crossword Puzzle No. 3,560 dated Wednesday, July 23rd 1941

1942 – Times crosswords

1. Monday, February 2nd

Crossword 3,724, 25 Down:

Port, did you say? (4) SAID

2. Tuesday, February 3rd

Crossword 3,725, 1 Down:

The substance of tears (8) SOBSTUFF

3. Saturday, February 7th

Crossword 3,729, 14 Down:

With this creature “it’s tails you lose” (8) SCORPION

4. Monday, February 9th

Crossword 3,730, 32 Across:

Cupid’s necktie? (6,4) LOVERS KNOT

5. Thursday, February 12th

Crossword 3,733, 18 Down:

One cannot be compelled to do so (9) VOLUNTEER

6. Monday, February 16th

Crossword 3,736, 1 Across:

Figurative couple who are literally held up to ridicule (5,3,4) PUNCH AND JUDY

7. Wednesday, February 18th

Crossword 3,738, 9 Down:

Order for a bed? ‒ or perhaps not (5,3) APPLE PIE

8. Tuesday, February 24th

Crossword 3,743, 3 Down:

Harmful effect of bowling eight balls? (10) OVERSTRAIN

9. Wednesday, February 25th

Crossword 3,744, 8 Down:

The making of a harmless crocodile (11) SCHOOLGIRLS

10. Saturday, February 28th

Crossword 3,747, 5 Down:

Slangily it is anything but refreshing fruit (9) RASPBERRY

This found in The Times dated Wednesday, April 8th 1942

Prices doubtless reflecting the cost of newsprint (earlier article of 29th April 1940) which had soared!

1943 – Times crosswords

1. Monday, February 1st

Crossword 4,033, 13 Across:

Hen emu at a club, ‒ very irregular! (9) ATHENAEUM

2. Tuesday, February 2nd

Crossword 4,034, 13 Down:

One isn’t expected to put on court dress for it (4,6) LAWN TENNIS

3. Saturday, February 6th

Crossword 4,038, 27 Across:

One does it, of course, in aviation circles (7,3,4) LOOPING THE LOOP

4. Tuesday, February 9th

Crossword 4,040, 1 Down:

Evidently it should be “wide enough to wrap a fairy in” (9) PERISCOPE

5. Wednesday, February 10th

Crossword 4,041, 20 Down:

He waits in France (6) GARCON

6. Thursday, February 18th

Crossword 4,048, 25 Across:

A cautionary cricketing rival of Little Jack Horner? (4,6) PLUM WARNER

7. Friday, February 19th

Crossword 4,049, 1 Across:

Won by Nelson, ridden by Wellington (10) COPENHAGEN

8. Monday, February 22nd

Crossword 4,051, 23 Across:

A nice garden for a girl (10) GRANDNIECE

9. Tuesday, February 23rd

Crossword 4,052, 2 Down:

Nymphs in reeds, perhaps (7) NEREIDS

10. Friday, February 26th

Crossword 4,055, 20 Down:

Name of thin Scot (7) MACLEAN

This appeared in The Times on Wednesday, September 22nd 1943

1944 – Times crosswords

1. Tuesday, February 1st

Crossword 4,343, 16 Across:

The royal sorcerer’s job (6,8) PRINCE CHARMING

2. Wednesday, February 2nd

Crossword 4,344, 26 Across:

It wasn’t a layman who sought to discuss this lay matter (3,7,3) THE CURATES EGG

3. Friday, February 4th

Crossword 4,346, 14 Down:

Story-teller to the children of Romulus? (5,5) UNCLE REMUS

4. Saturday, February 5th

Crossword 4,347, 17 Down:

This deficiency might have hair-raising results in a wind (3,4) NET LOSS

5. Tuesday, February 8th

Crossword 4,349, 1 Across:

Frog’s restricted ubiquity? (5) BOUNDS

6. Wednesday, February 9th

Crossword 4,350, 19 Across:

Dyy (9) PENNYWISE

7. Tuesday, February 15th

Crossword 4,355, 19 Across:

Retreat of the self-conscious guest (3,3,3) TIP AND RUN

8. Wednesday, February 16th

Crossword 4,356, 23 Down:

More like an earl? (7) EARLIER

9. Friday, February 25th

Crossword 4,364, 18 Across:

Very tired of Hampshire, are they? (10) SYCOPHANTS

10. Saturday, February 26th

Crossword 4,365, 9 Across:

It goes always south to north (6) SEVERN

This from an article in The Times dated Monday, October 2nd 1944

1945 – Times crosswords

1. Thursday, February 1st

Crossword 4,654, 1 Across:

Let surf be soothing (7) RESTFUL

2. Friday, February 2nd

Crossword 4,655, 25 Across:

I need corn, being somewhat secretive (9) ENDOCRINE

3. Saturday, February 3rd

Crossword 4,656, 28 Across:

It is a puzzle to gardeners (9) ARAUCARIA

4. Thursday, February 8th

Crossword 4,660, 14 Down:

Smith’s dishonest product (7) FORGERY

5. Friday, February 9th

Crossword 4,661, 11 Across:

A mount habituated to the black-out (4,5) DARK HORSE

6. Saturday, February 10th

Crossword 4,662, 8 Down:

Briefly describing merciless bridge-players (2,6) NO HEARTS

7. Thursday, February 15th

Crossword 4,666, 8 Down:

It’s between two feet (6) STRIDE

8. Friday, February 16th

Crossword 4,667, 21 Down:

Motor degeneration through vegetation (6) CARROT

9. Saturday, February 17th

Crossword 4,668, 16 Down:

Bad men found in wild country and in ships (8) BRIGANDS

10. Monday, February 19th

Crossword 4,669, 18 Down:

Peak fraud in Devon (7) TOPSHAM

 Crossword No. 4,735 Published in The Times on Tuesday, 8th May 1945 VE Day marking the end of hostilities in Europe.

You can now solve this crossword yourself below – DA.

Crossword No. 4,819 Published in The Times on Wednesday, 15th August 1945 VJ Day marking the end of hostilities in Japan.

You can now solve this entire crossword yourself (see attachment under 4,819) – DA.