![]() ![]() “And the ‘s’ or ‘z’ in words like ‘organise’ should never be interlocked so people can spell it either way.” “The T of ‘tsar’ would have to be interlocked to make it clear we weren’t looking for ‘czar’,” she says. Spellings of common words, for instance can alter over time and part of Purcell’s job is to compile a house style to ensure that compilers are consistent and that tricky words are interlocked with other words on the grid to give readers a steer. Deft clues to unlock clever words are not enough to create a good puzzle: a compiler needs a mathematical precision to navigate the grids and a mastery of current fashions and affairs to anticipate their readers’ responses. ![]() The clues to a cryptic crossword may be fiendish to ordinary minds, but the mental dexterity that lies behind them is more incredible than some might realise. If you’ve got that kind of mind you can never stop – I sit on buses reading the adverts and start making anagrams out of the slogans.” “We all want to find a clue that no one’s ever come up with before or a new way of interpreting a much used word. “No one’s in it for the money, but for the love,” says Purcell who speaks four languages and writes French and German grammar books on the side. She, on the other hand, has a full-time job compiling and editing puzzles for Puzzler, the UK’s most prolific provider of puzzles and puzzle magazines. ![]() She is unusual – most professional compilers produce their puzzles in their spare time at the end of a more lucrative day job, or use them to expand their intellect – and their pensions – in retirement. It’s this linguistic agility that has equipped 60-year-old Purcell for a career compiling crosswords and brain teasers. “Whenever I see Britney Spears I think of Presbyterian,” she says, “and ‘bedroom’ is an anagram of ‘boredom’, which makes it a good source of clues.” For an instant a label spotted in a Sainsburys vegetable aisle will read “mange tout” but then it morphs into “Man get out”. W ords, seen through Sue Purcell’s eyes, are acrobatic things. ![]()
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