Monday, 15th April, 2024
On Friday 5th April our Visits were in the ascendant again after a month of uncertainty, but never wavering in my beliefs, now seemingly endorsed by the foreign offices of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Baltic States, Poland and Finland, and if we are to believe a word from Trudeau and Macron, Canada and France too, ditto Rishi Sunak and Cameron in the UK – believe it when I see it, is my response to the latter, and let us not forget Germany either, or Japan, and Taiwan, where qualification for political office, must be attended by real knowledge and ability before any popular whim or fancy! For me Science and Mathematics coupled with History ancient and modern, are absolute musts in a modern world to enable the Arts to flourish, else our very existence can make beggars of us all!
We are on 309,905 visits and Shanghai, whose Bank team with HK, I helped once to thrash at rugby for Standard in London, Blackheath, in the final of the 1965 inter-bank sevens, have set the ball rolling today on this website in reply, it seems! Their dominance was short lived on both occasions, it seems! with the emergence of Ethiopia on 205 as new visitors, and very welcome are our new crossword fellowship too!
Biden was foolish in making a public statement that Ukraine will be in no position to join NATO in the foreseeable future. Perfect excuse for Putin to bide his time and build his strengths. NATO must admit Ukraine come what may, if adjoining NATO states are to be safe from Russian invasion.
Sorry, Mr Zelensky, your lion-hearted spirit has to contend with your many recent gaffes, which have prompted your adversary to do all he can to weaken Ukraine’s resolve with his threats of nuclear strikes unless NATO abandons talk of Ukraine membership. We must send a clear message to Vladimir Putin, despite your recent recklessness over religion, that no such undertaking will be given – DA
What the World needs now is Love, sweet Love – Bacharach and David and Jackie DeShannon 1964. My prayer for the Republican Nomination: Spare us Trump, please, and I’ll try to focus more on my speciality, namely crosswords, and The Times crossword in particular.
My prayers are, and will always be for the children and elderly infirm who are forced to suffer senseless barbarism as a result of all the present turmoil, as well as for the aid workers and medics caught in the cross fire. Cool heads are called for in this time of crisis for ALL adversaries.
Our fragile existence must ensure that war as we know it, must become a luxury no one can afford to risk if our entire planet is to be saved from irreversible devastation. Listen to our children the world over, and help war become an experience of the past, to be replaced with brotherhood and sisterhood for all man and womankind and everything between! Make love, not war! as the old adage goes from the 60s, over and over! We all need to return to our families and rediscover what family love should be all about, a respect for every member’s needs and dignity, before invading other people’s gardens, to cite Voltaire!
Monday, 15th January saw Sweden in pole position with 700 from Stockholm along with Albania equally on 700, where on 4th March 1941 against a lonely Albanian mountainside my 23 year old Australian uncle, RAF and Australian Ace 39967 Flight Lieutenant, Richard Nigel ‘Ape’ Cullen, DFC and Bar met his end in his Hawker Hurricane as 2nd i/c to Pat Pattle South African Ace DFC and Bar, defending a Royal Navy Convoy off Corfu against far superior Axis forces.
We face a similar threat today it seems from a Russia which conveniently forgets their allies saved them from annihilation by Hitler’s Nazi forces back in WW2 thanks to the Baltic Convoys to Archangelsk, the name given too to our pocket battleship HMS Royal Sovereign loaned to Stalin and his navy by Churchill to accompany those convoys in the summer of 1941 post demise of the Bismarck.
We know this because I unearthed the above * spy Times crossword from 4th June 1941, – Wikipedia’s version is utter fiction because a dated and numbered Times crossword tells no lies – bearing Royal Sovereign’s name in 1941 not 1942! which had it been published when submitted could have alerted Nazi Germany with disastrous consequences with 2 British ships targetted, one a troopship in the evacuation of Crete, Stirling Castle, and the other HMS Royal Sovereign, newly equipped with the latest anti-submarine tech courtesy of the USA and Rosyth shipyards.
We must resist again it seems, thanks to odious adherents to Nazi Europe, and whom we admit to peace negotiations at our peril. Wake up, Europe and America! Once bitten was enough! Make Ukraine a member of NATO immediately! Show the Bear we mean business without Putin who is now threatening a nuclear confrontation in the hope America will not dare intervene! and give support to wise people like Lars Rasmussen of Denmark, and all the heads of the Baltic States. NATO must be strong again, and hopefully with full US backing and with extreme urgency, only then will we be respected.
If Trump, heaven forbid, gets the White House, he must realise that a state of war is what Putin wants with his latest atrocities and threats to the Baltic nations, and if Trump supports him in any way, he must face dire consequences. He is right about one thing though, all NATO members must pay equal dues, or risk becoming targets for extremists. A doubling of the dues by all members will signal to those members that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation remains a force to be reckoned with.
Well done Lars Rasmussen, of Denmark, you courageous man. Would there were many more like you. Viva Ukraine! Long live World Peace and Free uninhibited Trade between nations along with the removal of the measly cartels imposed by the super rich on all of us presently. Take note, Canada, in particular!
* As archivist of The Times crossword, I am familiar with the house grids as opposed those of contributors. Most are innocent whereas others reveal sensitive information, operating to a code as to be recognisable to alien forces. Being the sole remaining TC Archivist, I recognise immediately unrecognised grids, always a good starting point!
I have unearthed three definites and this one was the most sensational, witness my detailed Introduction under War Years. Clue in question to Puzzle number 3,518 of June 4, 1941: 8 dn: Game which should make “The Royal Sovereign” secure in all respects (5,3,6) CROWN AND ANCHOR message to mini subs to sink her in her newfound name anchorage and harbour Archangelsk. Crossword received 29th May, published 4th June by which time the harbour defences had been alerted! Thank goodness for British queues! In that selfsame crossword, if further proof were needed, we also have 7 dn: Flying fortress? (8,6) STIRLING CASTLE emphasis on the question mark, with thousands of troops aboard evacuating Crete for the relative safety of Alexandria! by the time this crossword was published that golden opportunity for the Luftwaffe had been lost. Hitler was more preoccupied with Barbarossa and the imminent invasion of Russia!
I am resolved now to concentrate on the Here and Now in 2024 with superlative efforts from some countries but not others. I welcome representatives of any nation on this Earth that does not support terrorists or genocidal maniacs, and respectful of our fragile Earth, women’s rights to equality and respect, and where peace and harmony and truly international cooperation is patently absent at present from its husbandry.
The Times 90th Anniversary Crossword – 9th January, 2021
Further to the announcement by the Puzzles Editor today that I am wholly responsible for my original 208-clue extravaganza shortly to appear, I have decided, rather than causing unnecessary trouble with a needless adjustment nearly a year on, that it is time I fulfilled his forecast for my digital innovation, in its entirety!
Luciano Ward, Rob Kingston and Sam Buttrey remain accredited in my Extra section for my original challenge to them to produce suitable clues for COLONOSCOPY, DAR ES SALAAM and TEST BAN (Sam’s delightful Spoonerism for Best Tan to commemorate the Atomic bomb on Bikini Atoll and the subsequent fallout still being endured by successive generations from 25th July 1946 and ironically the date of my own birth! what a man, and what a clue in attendance!). All contestants succeeded impressively for the respective competitions of Christmas 2019 and February 2020, in celebration of the 90th Anniversary of The Times crossword on the 1st of February, 2020.
I hope my substitutions did not disappoint!
Three years on, my piece became the subject of my pre-Easter competition for 2024!
Welcome to my second Jumbo Crossword Challenge commencing 15th April, 2024 subsequent to Easter’s highly popular event, depicting in competition format for the first time ever, for the benefit of followers on Linked-in, Facebook and Instagram a giant leap involving the first two Jumbo crossword books, in their 27 x 27 Grids courtesy of Edmund Akenhead and his elder son, David, in 4 ongoing crossword competitions, revealing a blend of hymns Ancient as well as Modern! Enjoy this brand new facility in honour of the Maestro’s memory by the extant team player!
Sincerely, David Akenhead.
The NEW Times Jumbo Crossword Challenges
Go to: https://www.facebook.com/david.akenhead
Regards,
David Akenhead CEO Akenhead crosswords under licence from Times Newspapers UK Ltd
Feel free to browse my News article and the stand I have chosen to take in support of fellow disadvantaged authors and artists and actors worldwide.
I have reopened my free samples in my Library on this website especially my Games! and some choice crosswords! Enjoy!
My regular News editorials elaborate what is fair play for me and the late Barbara Hall MBE’s estate, speaking reams of earlier happier days, as Peter Brookes does with his wonderful regular cartoons in The Times – DA
We were wrong, Charity Commission tells ousted actors
My comment in UK Times – 13th January 2024
My comment and feedback in Saturday’s UK Times (amended) – 25th November 2023
Posted comment in The Times of Saturday, 4th November
I continue to offer my readership and my digital products on my increasingly popular website to HarperCollins gratis with a direct link to their website via mine and indeed recommend subscribing to TOL themselves! – DA
Aside my token requests to restore my Jumbo royalties with whatever I am due, and my former title at The Times, I’d like to promote the Sun crossword titles again in digital format, as inventor of The Sun Computer Crosswords and long time Proofs Editor of their crossword books.
Finally, since the phenomenal surge in interest in my work from 30th December onwards, I have decided that I will only display nations’ flags henceforth, if the combined presence on my website for the day’s entry registers 1,000 visits or more.
Recently, I received a very high weekly rating from Linked-In as their best performing number courtesy of a superb crossword from Brian Greer under the new editorship of Mike Laws in 2002 with The Times Cryptic Crossword Book 2, so huge thanks to two dear friends, present and past. You really hit a chord! 75 Years of The Times Crossword is proving no slouch either! – DA
April 2024
5th April – with 1,615 Visits (12 hours)
| Browser | Country | City | Date | Platform | Referrer | Visits | |||
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London, United Kingdom | 5th April 2024 | Windows | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 1391 | ||
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Hubei, China | 5th April 2024 | Windows | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 34 | ||
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Germany | 5th April 2024 | OS X | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 13 | ||
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USA | 5th April 2024 | Windows | Unknown | binance.com | 12 | ||
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Tempe, Arizona | 5th April 2024 | Windows | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 9 | ||
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USA | 5th April 2024 | iOS | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 8 | ||
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Shanghai, China | 5th April 2024 | OS X | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 5 | ||
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Svishtov, Oblast Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria | 5th April 2024 | Android | Unknown | www.google.com | 4 | ||
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Tempe, Arizona | 5th April 2024 | Windows | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 3 | ||
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Tempe, Arizona | 5th April 2024 | Windows | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 3 | ||
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North Bergen, New Jersey | 5th April 2024 | Windows | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 3 | ||
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Tempe, Arizona | 5th April 2024 | Windows | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 3 | ||
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Los Angeles, California | 5th April 2024 | Windows | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 3 | ||
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Camberwell, Southwark UK | 5th April 2024 | OS X | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 3 | ||
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Shanghai, China | 5th April 2024 | OS X | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 3 | ||
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Tempe, Arizona | 5th April 2024 | Windows | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 3 | ||
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Shanghai | 5th April 2024 | OS X | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 3 | ||
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Shanghai | 5th April 2024 | OS X | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 3 | ||
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Shanghai | 5th April 2024 | OS X | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 3 | ||
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Poland | 5th April 2024 | Unknown | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 2 | ||
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Madrid | 5th April 2024 | Unknown | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 2 | ||
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Jacksonville, Florida | 5th April 2024 | Windows | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 2 | ||
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USA | 5th April 2024 | Windows | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 2 | ||
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Omsk, Omskaya Oblast’, Russian Federation | 5th April 2024 | Windows | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 2 | ||
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Zhejiang, China | 5th April 2024 | Windows | Unknown | www.crosswordsakenhead.com | 2 |
February 2024
20th February – with 4,238 Visits (12 hours)
January 2024
Sun 28th January – with 2,011 Visits (12 hours)
War has overnight become a luxury of the past and we need to think 21st century now. Only the combined brains of this world from every single nation can safeguard our increasingly fragile eco-structure. Our late Queen made a memorable start with her Commonwealth tree-planting initiative. In support of which, this too from the late great founder of our crossword, Adrian Bell:
The oldest profession? (9) GARDENING says it all really, that and celebrating our humanity through sport in all its noblest aspirations. Well done, Prince Harry, for the vets. Your courage in the field too is legend!
1 ac. In order of celebration, the ayes have it, it seems! (4,5,4,2) GOOD QUEEN BESS II
1 ac. Silvery-white Ode to Joy, 21st Century style! (8,7) PLATINUM JUBILEE
At the outbreak of World War 2, our beloved Queen Elizabeth was a 14 year old Princess along with her joie de vivre 11 year old sister, Princess Margaret,
both facing an uncertain life ahead but with a sense of duty and devotion to their country reflected in their father King George VI and their own broadcasts to the children in England separated from their families, rather similar to families in Ukraine today, conveying encouragement and hope; but young Elizabeth wanted to go further and by her 18th birthday had persuaded her father that she wished to join the ATS and do her bit for the war effort at their HQ in Aldershot near Windsor Castle.
So it was in autumn 1944 that she met my mother, Angela, and my godmother Stella Cody as she later became, who had both joined the service earlier, and who now acquainted Princess Elizabeth with the business of both driving and servicing Army ambulances, both already well aquainted with their nightly missions of tending in low visibility to the devastation, wounded and dying from London’s Blitz. Below pictures of my mother in 1940 as a young Corporal, after enlisting in the ATS on her 21st birthday, with a troupe of dedicated, selfless, quiet and truly heroic army girls and nurses, culminating in 1944 elevated to Captain, with Stella, by this time her staff sergeant i/c driving lessons, both charged with assisting the young princess in familiarising her and her vehicle with basic mechanics on the one hand, and manoeuvring it in blackout conditions, on the other, both of which she accomplished the following year with flying colours!
Also my father below, an RAF pilot and glider pilot in the newly formed AAC who she met in a pub in 1944 – promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Edmund Akenhead TD by war end.
‘You can’t be a beacon if your light don’t shine. There’s a little light in all of us by God’s design’ Marty Cooper and Donna Fargo USA
Restoration of my late father, Edmund Akenhead’s Arms, pursuant to Queen Victoria’s Amnesty to landed Scottish families post Culloden (ours a Sept of Gordon) and graciously granted to my father and his descendants in perpetuity by Queen Elizabeth the Second and the College of Arms on the 31st October 1989.
Witness below, a handful of clues including our treasured national institution (apart from the tea!), namely our beloved Times crossword, stemming from its inception some ninety-three years ago! Remainder can be found in my new AZ Sketches by DA (courtesy of Boz!).
Her attachment to Poe makes her also write verse (4) TESS
Saw one of the team off then? (5) TENON
There’s no limit to what a sick kangaroo will do (9) BOUNDLESS
Unsuitable entertainment for Father’s Day? (3,8) POP FESTIVAL
Conference material? Impressive! (5) SATIN
What Peter Brookes renders to The Times in pictures, we cryptic wallahs attempt in words!
“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:
Madam? EVE! (mad am!!) (5,8) CHAIN REACTION
Bowler seen at Dover – and at Boulogne (6)
Vma Nair a cricket authority in India, got it, and as I remarked to him, a bit tongue in cheek!
SEAMER
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Vma Nair to
David Akenhead more clues please
Short ball and extended dance, paradoxically (4,3)
LONG HOP
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Visits to date over 3,000 (24 hours)
Thu 1st February 2024 8,676
Wed 31st January 2024 7,346
Mon 8th January 2024 7,134
Tue 30th January 2024 6,075
Mon 20th February 2024 6,006
Wed 10th January 2024 5,693
Wed 24th January 2024 5,039
Wed 21st February 2024 4,833
Mon 29th January 2024 4,326
Tue 9th January 2024 4,301
Tue 23rd January 2024 4,206
Sat 24th February 2024 3,869
Tue 16th January 2024 3,759
Sun 25th February 2024 3,742
Sun 18th February 2024 3,687
Mon 15th January 2024 3,681
Sun 7th January 2024 3,574
Sat 17th February 2024 3,395
Sun 4th February 2024 3,386
Thu 22nd February 2024 3,152
Sun 11th February 2024 3,039
Sat 10th February 2024 3,001
Interesting article by my father for Times News, the House Journal of Times Newspapers, February 1976 Edition where he indulges his readers in the mathematical intricacies of a Mastermind competition in which he was an entrant – father was very much into code-breaking in his War years, and as usual, a master of understatement.
As a quiet multi-lingual RAF rudimentary test fighter pilot earlier, he also later flew light aircraft low at night under radar behind enemy lines. I only gleaned this information at the very end of his life in a 5 hour game of chess (which he eventually won instinctively on close to empty!) on enquiring about his TD when he brushed off landing his glider and troop plus jeep 50 miles behind enemy lines prior to the Rhine crossings as nothing much really, and in any case something he had done before at night and in a much lighter aircraft, a Lysander, in more challenging circumstances!
The headline and the signature are adequate evidence of the veritas without any need for the interim RTP or QED!
– 
23rd out of an original field of 800 plus, wasn’t bad going!
Looking on the bright side (and not new), Pimm’s No. 1 time in order! (8) OPTIMISM
And on that note perhaps it’s worth observing that my Chinese following probably comes from Yunnan and Guangdong, and Hong Kong. In Yunnan, Li Jiang in 2007 I was deputy to Verle Ackerstaffe at the Cambridge International Language school where we taught English and Drama to neigbouring students from China, the Himalayas, Tibet and Burma, having taught earlier in Guangdong Province, China, too.
My Russian following stems from my successful Sunday Times Crossword Compendium, where in Moscow for an entire year in 1996 we were featured in their Games and Puzzles Top Ten.
And my Singapore following, undoubtedly stems from my earlier days with Harper Collins, and my visit there in 2002 promoting my computer crosswords alongside the crossword books through their agent in Borders, US booksellers, established across Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and my friendship with Allan Wong and his wife Mei Chan both prominent in the modern Singapore (as well as in India) where they were most gracious hosts to me and my daughter, Charlotte.
Countries/States now numbering 195 / Visits
Total to date |
70,356 |
309,905 |
Wise words from a beacon of light in a troubled world:
“Come in I’ll give ya shelter, shelter from the storm” Bob Dylan, 18th September 1974
David Akenhead, CEO Akenhead crosswords, 15th April, 2024
Visits: 198