Brian also sets cryptic crosswords under the pseudonym 'Algy'. This website has been hosted by his crossword site, which will explain the otherwise mysterious URL this site has. You can see some of his puzzles by going to algy.me.uk.

Way back in September last year, in explaining our writing exercise, Fran and Lily uttered a word that caused Brian to start thinking of cryptic clues for it. This is what sometimes happens to a crossword setter and Brian got carried away. He wrote a clue for that word and then wrote clues for a couple of other related words. When he got home, he wrote them down for possible later use. Eventually, nearly nine months late, he finished a crossword that included those clues and also several other clues and answers for further related words. For assistance with the very final stages of clue-writing, Brian is happy to acknowledge help from Chris of this group and also from our friend Jacob Sacker.

The title of the puzzle is 'Vast ops in a lather' and the puzzle is dedicated to Fran and Lily, the two Flourish volunteers who unwittingly provided the initial inspiration for the puzzle. You can find the puzzle on Tom Blackwell's excellent site mycrossword.co.uk