June 1999 Crossword 21,620. The biggest day in the Guardian crossword since 28 December 1970: for the first time the puzzle is published online. Rover has the honour and in the following days and weeks he is followed by the other Guardian setters of the day: Fawley, Araucaria, Rufus, Janus, Pasquale, Chifonie, Crispa, Logodaedalus, Taupi, Plodge, Shed, Gordius, Paul, Bunthorne, Mercury, Enigmatist, Gemini, Quantum, Orlando, Audreus, Hendra, Auster, Egoist (over a year later; see above) and finally Fidelio in February 2001. Six (Araucaria, Janus, Crispa, Gordius, Bunthorne and Audreus) are survivors from the dawn of the pseudonym era. At the time of writing, three remain: Enigmatist, Pasquale and Paul.

February 2017 27,132, the debut puzzle by Sphinx (comedian Steve Pemberton), is an elaborate tie-in with an episode of his BBC anthology series Inside Number 9 broadcast on the same day.Hm. Maybe I should stop asking other setters that, as I’m drawing a blank. Actually, some setters do offer up corkers. Anto and Carpathian did recently; likewise Vulcan and Vlad. I’ll keep the question without answering it myself. October 2020 28,278, the 423rd and final puzzle by Shed ( obituary). The most recent setter to leave us, Shed had a great range: he could be very tough when he wanted to be, but could also tone it down if he wanted to give solvers a fun ride, so it is not surprising that he was seen on all of the days of the week. His total puts him 11th on the all-time list. October 2013 26,088, the debut by Otterden (Gordon Holt; Meet the Setter), the New Statesman puzzle editor who told the crossword blog in June that he “would dearly love to have just one crossword published in the Guardian”. February 1997 20,898 and the last one-off before the online era, this was set by Joke (a collaboration between Enigmatist and Fawley). October 1974 A glitch in the numbering system: the puzzle should have been 13,977; instead it is numbered 13,978.

Custos at John Perkin’s farewell lunch, 1997. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Grand totals of current setters (as of 10 January 2023) Fish have provided my most productive subject area – there have been five puzzles so far. There are plenty of fish to choose from; they often have short names amenable to using in anagram clues, and we tend to find them funny. If you add in three drink-based puzzles and eight with some other type of food, that would make 16 puzzles with food-and-drink themes, which rather echoes your experience. Outside. I start each week with a filled grid printed next to headings of types of clue – soundalikes, reversals and so on – to make sure I include at least one or two of each. I write five or six clues first thing every weekday and, as with other kinds of writing, it’s usually best if I’m walking. I’m afraid I’ve wobbled on it. I’m going to ask Enigmatist if he’ll do this. He’s going to use his editorial section next to the Inquisitor puzzle in this weekend’s i newspaper, and take over the questioning here.When you asked me where I do my compiling, I told you “in a pub” (I don’t any longer). Where do you set “Everyman”? April 2014 26,236, the 602nd and final puzzle by Gordius ( obituary). The eighth of the nine original pseudonyms to retire, Gordius had been a stalwart since 1967 and had become more prolific in the online era, providing two puzzles a month. He was a midweek man – rarely seen on either Mondays or Saturdays and most commonly on Tuesdays. We can estimate that he set in the region of 40 to 50 more puzzles before December 1970 and his known total puts him eighth on the all-time list. February 2003 22,765: the first one-off of the online era: a puzzle about archbishops of Canterbury by Chaucer. October 1996 20,793 is the final puzzle by Custos ( obituary). He wasn’t there right at the beginning of the Guardian’s pseudonym era, but was very well known by his 1974 debut. In a little over 22 years he provided 949 puzzles and is fifth on the all-time list. In his heyday he would set more or less one cryptic puzzle every week, the vast majority on Fridays (485) and Saturdays (344), providing a foil to Araucaria during his most prolific years.

January 2002 22,420, the 181st and final puzzle by Hendra (only five of which came in the online era; obituary). Two hundred puzzles feels enough to have bedded in. And the 4,000th Everyman is coming next year, which I hope will be a moment for celebration; remaining pseudonymous for that would risk seeming attention-seeking rather than conveying the intended diffidence, if you see what I mean.May 2020 28,122, the 316th and final puzzle by Chifonie ( obituary). Another much-loved setter, for his smoothness and fairness which offered encouragement to new solvers. His total puts him 14th on the all-time Guardian list. March 2022 28,696, the debut by Pangakupu (Mastermind semi-finalist Paul Henderson of the New Zealand Ministry of Justice; Meet the Setter). Feb 1978 Custos sets a double puzzle titled Literal Transplants as the 15,000th Guardian puzzle. “No prize for this one – it’s just for fun.” November 2013 26,118, officially set by “None” but widely taken to have been provided by Enigmatist, Paul and Shed, and so like Araucaria’s 90th birthday puzzle I class it as a Biggles puzzle – the 11th and last. It is a tribute to Araucaria, who had died three days previously ( obituary).

I have a lot of admiration for the more prolific setters like Paul and (in their day) Araucaria and Rufus. I can’t sit down with a blank sheet of paper and know that in two or three hours I’ll have a puzzle, and I won’t start one until I know that I have at least three or four ideas for clues that will establish a theme. That definitely slows me down. You have established an identity with your acrostics (“primarilys”), rhyming long answers, repeated initial letters: do you have an editor? It does a bit. Likewise “magniloquent”. Now, when I ask setters if they are prepared to share a photo of themselves, I always hope it’s not going to be an unflattering selfie. How about this time? August 2005 23,545, an interesting one-off by Omnibus: the puzzle was compiled using clues sent in by readers. December 2004 23,318, the 678th and final puzzle by Crispa ( obituary), who had been setting puzzles for the Guardian since 1954, four years before even Araucaria. She was not as prolific as some of her contemporaries, but set a few almost every year, only going missing entirely in 1977. Her puzzles were most commonly seen on Mondays (418) and her total places her joint sixth on the all-time list. Based on her frequency in the early 1970s it seems likely that she provided in the region of 200 more in the anonymous era.Agreed, and many thanks to Boatman. Suggestions for future book club reading are very welcome. In the meantime, we have our first appointment with whodunnit writer Patricia Moyes; the book is Murder Fantastical. Other puzzling books April 2020 28,118, the debut cryptic by primary teacher Carpathian (Victoria Godfrey; Meet the Setter). February 2021 28,370: Enigmatist and Soup (plant scientist Hamish Symington; Meet the Setter) collaborate on a 100th birthday tribute to Araucaria. December 2017 27,383, the 1,325th and final puzzle set by Rufus before his retirement (which was a repeat of his first, 16,398). He sits in second place on the Guardian list, and the Guinness Book of Records named him the most prolific cryptic setter of all time. Of his Guardian puzzles, 1,018 were published on Mondays, with a further 184 on Thursdays in the 1980s and 1990s. But he never set a Saturday prize puzzle; it wasn’t his style. Here, crossword editor Hugh Stephenson says goodbye.