Other initiatives include Water.org courtesy of Gary White and Matt Damon, all about empowering the individual to make the choices over our most precious commodity, water, for our future and our children’s future. And then there is Elon Musk whose mission is to be a force for good in our strife-torn world. As a fellow Aspergeree who was brought up like me amid a judgmental world in Africa – South in his case, and East in mine – made us both determined that our children would not have to face what we both went through. We would see to our best ability, that they would enjoy a higher plane of existence than was our lot, and though I am getting on a bit, being just one month younger than Donald Trump, that remains my goal too, where war as we know it must become a thing of the past, and the new fledgling science of genomics, will ensure that illness and vaccines in particular will be rendered obsolete.

I believe dreams can come true, if we all support the trail-blazers and genuine good people still around. Congratulations, to Elon, and Gary and Matt for their endeavours, and doubtless many many more too.

Witness below, therefore, my new clues including our treasured national institution (apart from the tea!), namely our beloved Times crossword, stemming from its inception some ninety-two years ago!

“Madam, I’m Adam” — the world’s first? (10) PALINDROME fits as does  (4-2-4) CHAT-UP-LINE.

Inevitable response to that, of course is:

Akenhead crosswords are under new management and being transformed, exclusively in Newfoundland, Canada.

• 9th April 1922 saw with the renewal of my contract with The Times, and the re-emergence of my late father’s Times and East African crossword publications in digital format in my weekly crossword challenges courtesy of Facebook and Linked-in as well as a recommendation to my subscriptions from retiring TOL Puzzles Editor, David Parfitt, and finally a concerted ongoing challenge linking 1930, the birth of the Times crossword to the full extent of the existing Times Archive which presently stretches to December 1985 (including the crossword), with appropriate samples and links from each year.
• On 4th May 2022 I decided to axe all subscriptions except the basic annual subscription of US $10. It is acknowledged that many cannot afford our premium so we have reduced it to US$2 with a recommendation that it remains at US$10 for those who can.

The Times Crossword No. 3,518
This crossword appeared in The Times on Wednesday 4th June, 1941 – Uncovered another highly suspect crossword, unrecognisable grid, and the final down clue is Aphra, and we all recognise her as Aphra Behn, alluring undercover agent for Charles II in Antwerp! It all kicked off in 1941, it seems on both sides! This Archive is beginning to prove priceless, especially in Crete and the North Atlantic convoys to Arkhangelsk, – Bismarck, HMS Royal Sovereign and Stirling Castle (troopship) all in the same Times crossword I found with its clandestine message to German High Command to sink the Royal Sovereign in port rather than open Convoy where her new defences courtesy of USA and Rosyth shipyard made her invincible to U-boat packs, and when the crossword was submitted, Stirling Castle was by contrast a sitting duck for the Luftwaffe in Heraklaeon harbour, Crete with a huge vulnerable contingent of British and Commonwealth troops aboard when the RN, to avoid further loss, announced evacuation to Alexandria, fortunately, however, although the crossword was submitted the previous week just after Bismarck was sunk/scuttled, in good British tradition the crossword had to await its turn for publication, by which time the bird was safely in the Egyptian nest! Crete, a story where scant interest was paid to the Geneva convention by both sides! talk about matches devoid of referees! But that’s war for you! It was also, arguably the critical point where the balance began to swing in the Allies’ favour! Both ships survived the war with outstanding service rendered because our intelligence was a tiny fraction better than Germany’s! This crossword can be found on both my Home Page and on my Preview App for the War Years – a unique discovery in my book, and the crossword is masterful too and cleverly deceptive! Churchill did not care much for cryptic crosswords either! Another plus for the opposition! Yet, Hitler helped us too of course, mindful of the Baltic convoy approaching Archangelsk headed by The Royal Sovereign and already regarding Crete as his reverse Arnhem! a costly paradrop too far in his eyes bringing a certain amount of disunity to the boots on the ground and what was remaining in the air! and nothing was to delay or inhibit Barbarossa and the invasion of Russia!

David Akenhead, former Crossword Consultant to The Times operating under licence from Times Newspapers (UK) Limited and as CEO Akenhead crosswords

Read all about it in Home, NEWS (revised) and EXTRA! We have chalked up over 112,300 Visits! together with FREE Samples from Every Month of World War 2 to attract followers! My games and crosswords remain excellent mental, as well as physical, therapy for anyone looking to benefit from Juvenal’s immortal prescription – “orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano” – “your prayer must be for a sound mind in a sound body!” I’ll second that!

I have posted on both Facebook and Linked-In my new digital interactive FREE challenge every two weeks with an East African crossword originally courtesy of EA but modified to modern norms by DA. I have also already added classic crosswords from my father’s earlier book titles at The Times under his editorship, all now directly linked with my Home Page and found in my Archive samples.

Milestone reached Thursday 17th February 2022 with 100,000 Visits!

Date:  

Toggle panel: Top Visitors

Top Visitors

Rank	Hits	Flag	Country	City		Agent	Platform	Version
1	53		Canada	Montreal		Chrome	Windows	6.1
2	7		France	Unknown		Chrome	Windows	10.0
3	6		Lithuania	Unknown		Safari	iOS	12.3.1
4	2		United States	Wayne		Chrome	Windows	5.1
5	2		Canada	Unknown		Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
6	2		United States	Scottsdale		Chrome	Windows	5.1
7	2		United States	Ashburn		Firefox	Windows	10.0
8	2		Germany	Bonn		Chrome	Linux	Unknown
9	2		United States	Unknown		Chrome	Windows	5.1
10	2		United States	Scottsdale		Chrome	Windows	5.1
11	2		United States	Tempe		Firefox	OS X	10.14
12	2		Germany	Unknown		Safari	OS X	10.12.6
13	2		Germany	Unknown		Chrome	Windows	10.0
14	2		France	Unknown		Chrome	Windows	5.1
15	1		Canada	Unknown		Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
16	1		United States	Unknown		Chrome	Linux	Unknown
17	1		United States	Dallas		Internet Explorer	Windows	6.2

Date:  

Toggle panel: Top Visitors

Top Visitors

Rank	Hits	Flag	Country	City		Agent	Platform	Version
1	10		Australia	Sydney		Chrome	Windows	6.1
2	4		United States	Buffalo		Chrome	Windows	6.3
3	2		United States	Unknown		UC Browser	Android	4.4.2
4	2		United States	Los Angeles		Chrome	Windows	5.1
5	2		Germany	Unknown		Chrome	Windows	10.0
6	2		Germany	Bonn		Chrome	Linux	Unknown
7	2		United States	Seattle		Chrome	Windows	6.1
8	2		France	Paris		Chrome	Windows	6.1
9	2		United States	Tempe		Firefox	OS X	10.14
10	2		United States	Provo		Chrome	Windows	5.1
11	2		United States	Boardman		Chrome	Linux	Unknown
12	2		United States	Unknown		Chrome	Linux	Unknown
13	2		Canada	Unknown		Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
14	2		Canada	Unknown		Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
15	1		Netherlands	Amsterdam		Chrome	OS X	10.13.2
16	1		Canada	Unknown		Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
17	1		France	Paris		Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
18	1		United States	Seattle		Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
19	1		Canada	Unknown		Chrome	Windows	6.3
20	1		France	Paris		Chrome	Windows	10.0
21	1		United States	Boardman		Chrome	Linux	Unknown

Date:  

Toggle panel: Top Visitors

Top Visitors

Rank	Hits	Flag	Country	City		Agent	Platform	Version
1	166		United States	Unknown		Chrome	Windows	10.0
2	26		Japan	Unknown		Chrome	Windows	10.0
3	10		Germany	Unknown		Chrome	Windows	10.0
4	8		United States	Buffalo		Chrome	Windows	10.0
5	4		Netherlands	Unknown		Chrome	Windows	5.1
6	4		Ukraine	Simferopol		Internet Explorer	Windows	5.1
7	3		China	Zhengzhou		Safari	iOS	11.0
8	2		France	Unknown		Firefox	Windows	10.0
9	2		Germany	Bonn		Chrome	Linux	Unknown
10	2		India	Unknown		Chrome	Windows	10.0
11	2		France	Paris		Chrome	Windows	10.0
12	2		Turkey	Unknown		Chrome	Windows	5.1
13	2		France	Roubaix		Chrome	Windows	6.1
14	2		United States	Scottsdale		Chrome	Windows	5.1
15	2		Viet Nam	Thai Binh		Internet Explorer	Windows	5.1
16	2		Russian Federation	Unknown		Internet Explorer	Windows	5.1
17	2		United Kingdom	Glasgow		Chrome	Windows	5.1
18	2		Sweden	Gothenburg		Chrome	Windows	5.1
19	2		United States	Houston		Chrome	Windows	5.1
20	2		China	Unknown		Chrome	Linux	Unknown
21	1		India	Mumbai		Chrome	Windows	10.0
22	1		United States	Unknown		Safari	iOS	14.7.1
23	1		United States	Unknown		Safari	iOS	15.3.1
24	1		United Kingdom	Spalding		Safari	OS X	10.15.7
25	1		France	Unknown		Chrome	Windows	6.1
26	1		France	Paris		Chrome	Windows	10.0
27	1		United States	Tempe		Firefox	OS X	10.14
28	1		Canada	Unknown		Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
29	1		United Kingdom	London		Chrome	OS X	10.9.5
30	1		Ireland	Unknown		Safari	iOS	15.4.1

Today:	19	95

Yesterday:	22	46

1st May to 20th May, 2022 – Top Twenty

Rank	Flag	Country	Visitor Count
1		France	378
2		United States	236
3		Canada	80
4		China	49
5		Germany	41
6		United Kingdom	35
7		Russian Federation	18
8		Singapore	17
9		Netherlands	16
10		India	16
11		Turkey	15
12		Viet Nam	9
13		Denmark	7
14		Sweden	7
15		Poland	5
16		Ireland	5
17		Japan	5
18		Italy	4
19		Iran	4
20		Ukraine	4

1. USA Gold   2. Russian Fed. Silver    3. United Kingdom  / Germany  Bronze

Most consistent visitors:

Bonn (prize) & Berlin & Frankfurt am Main & Munich & Aachen   Scottsdale & Boardman & Buffalo & Los Angeles & Houston & Washington & New York & Seattle & San Jose & Ashburn & Chicago   Dublin & Cork   Singapore   Beijing & Zhengzhou & Li Jiang   Glasgow & London & Bristol & Wells & Edinburgh   Mount Pearl & Toronto & Montreal & St John’s   Moscow & Rostov-on-Don & St Petersburg   Tokyo & Osaka   Rio & São Paulo   Mumbai   Port Elizabeth & Cape Town   Hobart & Sydney & Perth   Paris   Amsterdam  Rivne & Kyiv   Venezia & Arezzo & Rome   Madrid & Barcelona   Zurich & Geneva & Montreux   Athens & Ithaca & Kefallonia  Stockholm  Istanbul   Gdansk & Warsaw   Ho Chi Minh City   Kowloon & Central   Oslo & Bergen 

Top Twelve Countries overall:

Rank	Flag	Country	Visitor Count
1		United States	10,169
2		China	4,954
3		Singapore	4,645
4		United Kingdom	3,580
5		Germany	2,406
6		France	1,769
7		Canada	1,562
8		Russian Federation	1,452
9		India	1,221
10		Netherlands	819
11		Ukraine	717
12		Ireland	714

My services and skills as Proofs editor on the crossword books for Times Books and HarperCollins over many years were subsequent to proud service (1970-72) putting the Sydney Morning Herald to bed every day, with 5 other pairs, 12 of us in all, as final revisers in the employ of John Fairfax. They called us the late, late show! – a memorable badge! – DA

– 23rd out of an original field of 800 plus, wasn’t bad going!

Thank you all – Keep on truckin’! 

Looking on the bright side (and not new), Pimm’s No. 1 time in order! (8) OPTIMISM

Visitors to date:

Top Countries

Rank	Flag	Country	Visitor Count
1		United States	9,919
2		China	4,911
3		Singapore	4,622
4		United Kingdom	3,543
5		Germany	2,361
6		Canada	1,470
7		Russian Federation	1,435
8		France	1,389
9		India	1,204
10		Netherlands	804
11		Ukraine	710
12		Ireland	706
13		Unknown	580
14		Brazil	315
15		Turkey	289
16		Indonesia	288
17		Viet Nam	283
18		Italy	248
19		Poland	238
20		Greece	237
21		Australia	210
22		South Africa	209
23		Sweden	203
24		Spain	195
25		Thailand	163
26		Philippines	161
27		Hong Kong	154
28		Japan	145
29		Romania	126
30		Iran	121
31		Switzerland	109
32		Finland	90
33		Pakistan	89
34		Czech Republic	84
35		Malaysia	81
36		Korea (the Republic of)	74
37		Portugal	72
38		Moldova (the Republic of)	67
39		Chile	63
40		Argentina	53
41		Mexico	52
42		Egypt	52
43		Bulgaria	48
44		Austria	47
45		Taiwan	44
46		Serbia	44
47		Honduras	42
48		Norway	42
49		Hungary	41
50		Colombia	39
51		Israel	38
52		Luxembourg	37
53		New Zealand	36
54		Lithuania	34
55		Bangladesh	28
56		Algeria	27
57		Belgium	26
58		Denmark	25
59		Croatia	24
60		Nigeria	23
61		Trinidad and Tobago	22
62		Sri Lanka	21
63		Kenya	21
64		Latvia	20
65		Bahamas	19
66		Tunisia	19
67		Belarus	19
68		Kazakhstan	18
69		Saudi Arabia	18
70		Seychelles	17
71		Cyprus	17
72		Uzbekistan	17
73		Estonia	16
74		Jamaica	16
75		Morocco	16
76		Albania	15
77		Slovakia	15
78		United Arab Emirates	14
79		Georgia	14
80		Nepal	12
81		Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	12
82		Peru	11
83		Iceland	10
84		Jersey	10
85		Montenegro	10
86		Ghana	9
87		Costa Rica	9
88		Macedonia (the former Yugoslav Republic of)	9
89		Lebanon	9
90		Lao People’s Democratic Republic	8
91		Ecuador	8
92		Macao	7
93		Tanzania, United Republic of	7
94		Guatemala	7
95		Bosnia and Herzegovina	7
96		Zimbabwe	6
97		Malta	6
98		Bahrain	6
99		Kuwait	6
100		Mongolia	5
101		Slovenia	5
102		Belize	5
103		Qatar	5
104		Iraq	4
105		Palestine, State of	4
106		Fiji	4
107		Oman	4
108		Azerbaijan	4
109		Kyrgyzstan	4
110		Cambodia	4
111		Myanmar	4
112		Isle of Man	4
113		Bolivia, Plurinational State of	4
114		Armenia	4
115		Dominican Republic	3
116		Mauritius	3
117		Guam	3
118		Senegal	3
119		Bermuda	3
120		Zambia	3
121		Barbados	3
122		Jordan	2
123		Réunion	2
124		Brunei Darussalam	2
125		Paraguay	2
126		Puerto Rico	2
127		French Guiana	2
128		Panama	2
129		New Caledonia	2
130		Togo	2
131		Mali	2
132		Syrian Arab Republic	2
133		Burkina Faso	2
134		Sudan	2
135		Botswana	2
136		Virgin Islands (British)	1
137		Samoa	1
138		Tajikistan	1
139		Gibraltar	1
140		Madagascar	1
141		Maldives	1
142		Liberia	1
143		Uruguay	1
144		Cape Verde	1
145		Turkmenistan	1
146		Curaçao	1
147		Saint Kitts and Nevis	1
148		Cuba	1
149		Gabon	1
150		Rwanda	1
151		Virgin Islands (U.S.)	1
152		Guernsey	1
153		French Afars and Issas	1
154		Lesotho	1
155		Papua New Guinea	1
156		Uganda	1
157		Northern Mariana Islands	1
158		Côte d’Ivoire	1
159		Saint Pierre and Miquelon	1
160		Monaco	1
161		Somalia	1
162		Namibia	1
163		Benin	1
164		Mozambique	1

Total:	40,178

Wise words from a beacon of light in a troubled world:

“Come in I’ll give ya shelter, shelter from the storm” Bob Dylan, 17th September 1974

A few of my own efforts within the crossword spectrum:

Thaleischweiler-Fröschen (15-8) and Bergruine-Steinenschloss (9-14)

 David Akenhead, CEO Akenhead crosswords, 28th May, 2022

Hits: 49