Alistair Ferguson Ritchie
Encyclopedia
Alistair Ferguson Ritchie (1890–1954) was a crossword
compiler, who set as Afrit. The son of a post office clerk, he was born in 1890 and brought up in King’s Lynn. He was head boy at King Edward VII Grammar School there and graduated from Queens' College, Cambridge
in 1911.
He trained for Holy Orders at Bishop’s Hostel, Liverpool
and was ordained deacon in 1912, and priest in 1913 . From 1912 to 1918 he was curate at St Paul’s church, Southport
and from 1918 to 1924 he was St Mary’s church, Waterloo and also an assistant master at Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby
. From there he went to Wells as Head of the Cathedral School
and also as a priest vicar at the cathedral. He resigned as Priest Vicar in 1935 as the growing school needed his full attention.
In 1946 he was made a Prebendary (honorary canon) of Wells Cathedral
in recognition of his service to Wells and the diocese. In 1920 he married, Violet Minett who also taught at Merchant Taylor’s, Crosby, and they had four children. He died in harness on 8 April 1954, aged 63, prompting a letter to The Times
.
He was an excellent sportsman in his youth and besides crosswords, his interests included book-binding and bee-keeping. He was a demon at croquet and the Wells Cathedral School still maintains his croquet lawn. At the school he kept bees in what had been the ‘laundry garden’. When the bees took the garden over he persuaded gangs of volunteers to help take care of them. It seemed to the pupils that the volunteers emerged unscathed, whereas the headmaster, despite cloaking himself in hats and veils, always managed to get stung.
Recalling the headmaster’s crossword expertise, one student recalled the headmaster saying to him, “Congratulations, you won the Observer crossword prize last week. Would you be good enough to let me have it some time?” Ritchie, who could no longer enter under his own name, had exhausted all the names of the members of staff and was now using those of members of the sixth form.
The puzzles of Afrit (his nom de plume, a powerful demon of Arabian mythology, which happened to be hidden in his initials and surname) first appeared in The Sketch
and The Listener. For the Listener he compiled 127 crosswords from 1932 to 1948. These were usually impossibly difficult, often securing no correct entries. Later he composed easier puzzles for the Sphere
and a collection of his Armchair Crosswords was published in 1949, considered a classic in the crossword world.
Afrit's book Armchair Crosswords was republished in 2009 by Rendezvous Press.
Crossword
A crossword is a word puzzle that normally takes the form of a square or rectangular grid of white and shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answers. In languages that are written left-to-right, the answer...
compiler, who set as Afrit. The son of a post office clerk, he was born in 1890 and brought up in King’s Lynn. He was head boy at King Edward VII Grammar School there and graduated from Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...
in 1911.
He trained for Holy Orders at Bishop’s Hostel, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and was ordained deacon in 1912, and priest in 1913 . From 1912 to 1918 he was curate at St Paul’s church, Southport
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...
and from 1918 to 1924 he was St Mary’s church, Waterloo and also an assistant master at Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby
Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby
Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby is a British independent school for day pupils, located in Great Crosby on Merseyside....
. From there he went to Wells as Head of the Cathedral School
Wells Cathedral School
Wells Cathedral School is a co-educational independent school located in Wells, Somerset, England. The school is one of the five established musical schools for school-age children in the United Kingdom, along with Chetham's School of Music, the Yehudi Menuhin School, the Purcell School and St....
and also as a priest vicar at the cathedral. He resigned as Priest Vicar in 1935 as the growing school needed his full attention.
In 1946 he was made a Prebendary (honorary canon) of Wells Cathedral
Wells Cathedral
Wells Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, who lives at the adjacent Bishop's Palace....
in recognition of his service to Wells and the diocese. In 1920 he married, Violet Minett who also taught at Merchant Taylor’s, Crosby, and they had four children. He died in harness on 8 April 1954, aged 63, prompting a letter to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
.
He was an excellent sportsman in his youth and besides crosswords, his interests included book-binding and bee-keeping. He was a demon at croquet and the Wells Cathedral School still maintains his croquet lawn. At the school he kept bees in what had been the ‘laundry garden’. When the bees took the garden over he persuaded gangs of volunteers to help take care of them. It seemed to the pupils that the volunteers emerged unscathed, whereas the headmaster, despite cloaking himself in hats and veils, always managed to get stung.
Recalling the headmaster’s crossword expertise, one student recalled the headmaster saying to him, “Congratulations, you won the Observer crossword prize last week. Would you be good enough to let me have it some time?” Ritchie, who could no longer enter under his own name, had exhausted all the names of the members of staff and was now using those of members of the sixth form.
The puzzles of Afrit (his nom de plume, a powerful demon of Arabian mythology, which happened to be hidden in his initials and surname) first appeared in The Sketch
The Sketch
The Sketch was a British illustrated newspaper weekly, which focused on high society and the aristocracy. It ran for 2,989 issues between February 1, 1893 and June 17, 1959. It was published by the Illustrated London News Company and was primarily a society magazine with regular features on royalty...
and The Listener. For the Listener he compiled 127 crosswords from 1932 to 1948. These were usually impossibly difficult, often securing no correct entries. Later he composed easier puzzles for the Sphere
The Sphere (magazine)
The Sphere was a British magazine published by London Illustrated Newspapers Ltd.- External links :* , Scran ID: 000-000-475-242-C, National Library of Scotland...
and a collection of his Armchair Crosswords was published in 1949, considered a classic in the crossword world.
Afrit's book Armchair Crosswords was republished in 2009 by Rendezvous Press.