Orlando, who has died aged 77, was as thoughtful as they come in every sense of that word.
Last winter, half-recalling an old piece by my predecessor, Hugh Stephenson, I asked Orlando for some quick crosswords. He obliged at speed with a superb batch. It was only later and after sending more puzzles that he gently mentioned that he had not been one of this paper’s quick setters for some years.
I was unsurprised: you can go back a long way in my inbox finding examples of Orlando’s kindness.
We can use his noncrosswording name – Michael Curl – indeed, it was thanks to Michael’s invaluable site Best for Puzzles that many of us first learned of the names and people behind the noms de guerre.
And of course there are the puzzles. Clues with compelling surface readings:
25a Suddenly Arthur’s beginning to suspect Lancelot (3,2,4)
[ wordplay: first letter (‘beginning’) of ARTHUR + anagram of (‘suspect’) LANCELOT ]
[ definition: suddenly ]
Funny clues:
25a Sauce covering one’s birthday suit (8)
[ double definition ]
Clues introducing quiptic solvers to the pleasures of staggeringly appropriate wordplay:
8d Queen, making nation irate, met guillotine, finally (5,10)
[ wordplay: anagram (‘making’) of NATIONIRATEMET + last letter of (‘finally’) GUILLOTINE ]
[ definition: queen ]
A clue which, in a puzzle that also celebrates boxer Nicola Adams, asks for a little knowledge about a laureate:
8d/22d Masefield’s crafty request, Spooner’s cover point (4,4)
[ wordplay: spoonerism of SHAWL TIPS ]
[ definition: Masefield’s crafty request ]
Playful clues:
20d Socialised, as Lib Dems were before Clegg? (7)
[ wordplay: description of the Lib Dems under Ming Campbell ]
[ definition: socialised ]
And perfect clues:
1a Callas recollected a famous opera venue (2,5)
[ wordplay: anagram (‘recollected’) of CALLAS + A (‘a’) ]
[ definition: famous opera venue ]
We can be very glad that Michael took early retirement to focus on puzzles. I recommend our encounter in Meet the Setter and of course we have the archive.
The answers to the clues above are ALL AT ONCE, DRESSING, MARIE ANTOINETTE, TALL SHIPS, MINGLED and LA SCALA.