In February, this clue appeared as eight down in a puzzle from Tramp:
8d Guessing John, lastly is eighty: posh unfold? (13)
[wordplay: anagram of last letter of (“finally”) JOHN & ISEIGHTYPOSH]
[definition: guessing]
The reply is HYPOTHESISING. The next week, the Guardian acquired this charming letter:
My household are apparently arranging a tea occasion for my important birthday in March, and evidently your crossword setter Tramp has obtained wind of this. That is proven by a clue within the puzzle on 14 February: “Guessing John lastly is 80: posh unfold?” As for the answer, I’m hypothesising that Tramp is just not solely a superb setter, however has nice powers of clairvoyance too!
John Gooder
Bishop Burton, East Yorkshire
It was not simply eight down: the entire puzzle was a birthday tribute with references all through. I had edited Tramp’s puzzle in November and had been trying ahead to its showing.
It’s simply that it was for a distinct John.
Guardian setters are remarkably adept at producing puzzles which have a theme and that work excellently for these solvers who don’t discover or have neither information of nor curiosity within the theme. Simply as you didn’t must know that it was the fiftieth anniversary of the Supertramp album Crime of the Century to take pleasure in a different Tramp puzzle from October, so it was with this puzzle marking the eightieth birthday of the Supertramp saxophonist John Helliwell. (You’ll be able to learn extra about Tramp and Supertramp in our Q&A.)
You is likely to be questioning whether or not this leaves the opposite John – the fixing, letter-writing, as far as we all know non-saxophone-playing John – bereft. However no. John has, we’re instructed, since acquired his personal personalised tribute puzzle and is eager to thank the setter, one Pendorne. And that puzzle is the true motive for telling this story.
Pendorne is just not Tramp. Pendorne is just not me. I believe Pendorne could also be studying this. Who will help?
In our cluing conference for JANITOR, the runners-up are Patjberry47’s amorous “Juliet getting right into a jam with Romeo? Who will clear it up?” and Schroduck’s all-in-one “New 12 months’s garbage picked up by her?”; the winner is the hard-to-classify “I choose up some grot in a job”.
Kludos to Unmitigated. Please go away entries for COINCIDENCE under, together with any favorite clues or puzzles you could have noticed.