Roger Squires
Encyclopedia
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, living in Ironbridge
Ironbridge
Ironbridge is a settlement on the River Severn, at the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge, in Shropshire, England. It lies in the civil parish of The Gorge, in the borough of Telford and Wrekin...
, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, who is best known for being the world's most prolific compiler.
Squires was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School
Wolverhampton Grammar School
Wolverhampton Grammar School is a co-educational independent school located in the city of Wolverhampton.Initially Wolverhampton Boys Grammar School, it was founded in 1512 by Sir Stephen Jenyns, a master of the ancient guild of Merchant Taylors, who was also Lord Mayor of London in the year of...
where he gained his School Certificate
School Certificate
The School Certificate was a qualification issued by the Board of Studies, New South Wales, typically at the end of Year 10. The successful completion of the School Certificate is a requirement for completion of the Higher School Certificate...
before joining the Royal Navy at age 15 as a Boy Seaman. He trained at the notorious HMS Ganges, winning the award for the best all-round boy of the year, coming first in the Seamanship, Gunnery and School examinations and representing the ship at football and cricket. At 20, as the youngest ever Seaman Petty Officer, he became a Lieutenant in the Fleet Air Arm and flew for 10 years from various carriers, visiting over 50 countries. As a Member of The Magic Circle
The Magic Circle
The Magic Circle is a British organisation, founded in London in 1905, dedicated to promoting and advancing the art of magic.- History :The Magic Circle was founded in 1905 after a meeting of 23 amateur and professional magicians at London's Pinoli's Restaurant...
he was banned from aircrew games of cards for money when weather prevented flying. Instead he began solving crosswords then, when at sea without newspapers, he began compiling. His first published puzzle appeared in 1963, the year that he left the Navy, in the Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
, and in the same year became a regular compiler with the Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
The Birmingham Post newspaper was originally published under the name Daily Post in Birmingham, England, in 1857 by John Frederick Feeney. It was the largest selling broadsheet in the West Midlands, though it faced little if any competition in this category. It changed to tabloid size in 2008...
.
He then started compiling for Syndicates that supplied puzzles for newspapers in the UK and abroad, including Central Press Features, The Press Association, The Syndicate, First Features, Morley Adams, Gemini Crosswords etc.
In 1981 he joined The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, the Times Educational Supplement
Times Educational Supplement
The Times Educational Supplement is a weekly UK publication aimed primarily at school teachers in the UK. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in The Times newspaper. Such was its popularity that in 1914, the supplement became a separate publication selling for 1 penny.The TES...
,"The Glasgow Herald" and Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
and became the Birmingham Post crossword editor for 22 years. In 1986 he joined the Daily Telegraph and The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
. He compiled for The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
(1992–1998), 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...
(1993–2005) and the Times Educational Supplement (1981–2006). He has set crosswords for virtually every British newspaper, under pseudonyms including Rufus, Dante, Icarus, Hodge and Bower. These include The Observer, Sunday Correspondent, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday etc.
In 1990 he captained the Great Britain crossword team in the 12 nation International Crossword Marathon in Bjelovar
Bjelovar
Bjelovar is a city in central Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Bjelovar-Bilogora County. During the 2001 census, there were 41,869 inhabitants, 90.51% which are Croats....
, Yugoslavia.
He registered his company name of "Cryptic Crosswords" in the early 1970s.
He has now published over 70,000 crosswords in total, and on 14 May 2007 what was estimated to be his two millionth clue was published in the Daily Telegraph. The clue was 'Two girls, one on each knee (7)'. Squires is recognised by Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
as "The World's Most Prolific Crossword Compiler".
He appeared in the Guinness Book of Records from 1978 until all crossword records were dropped in 2002, though they were continued online until 2006. An update to December 2005 was included in the 2008 print edition. The 1992, 1993 and 1994 editions also included his brief history of crosswords. His puzzles have appeared in 592 outlets, including 113 publications in 32 countries outside the UK. He holds the record for the longest word used in a published puzzle, the Welsh place name: Llanfairpwllgwyngyll
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is a large village and community on the island of Anglesey in Wales, situated on the Menai Strait next to the Britannia Bridge and across the strait from Bangor. This village has the longest place name in Europe and one of the longest...
gogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which he clued as an anagram. He is one of only four setters to have been on the regular teams of all five quality newspapers (The Times, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent and Financial Times). He holds the Guinness Record for the Longest Published Crossword - at 8 feet long, because Onsworld Ltd were unable to publish the whole 24 ft puzzle. He has also produced a 3D crossword that fits on a Rubik's Cube
Rubik's Cube
Rubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik.Originally called the "Magic Cube", the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toy Corp. in 1980 and won the German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle that...
. Since passing his two millionth clue Squires has cut down his workload and now only provides regular crosswords for The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Yorkshire Post
Yorkshire Post
The Yorkshire Post is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by Yorkshire Post Newspapers, a company owned by Johnston Press...
, The Telford Journal and for two syndicates, Gemini Crosswords and the Press Association
Press Association
The Press Association is the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland, supplying multimedia news content to almost all national and regional newspapers, television and radio news, as well as many websites with text, pictures, video and data content globally...
. For two years from January 2009 he single-handedly supplied the Guardian Saturday Magazine General Knowledge crossword.
Milestones in his career include: passing publication of 4,000 cryptics for the Birmingham Post (in 2001), 1,000 cryptic crosswords for The Financial Times (2003), 10,000 quicks for the London Evening Standard (2004), 1,000 cryptic crosswords in the TES (in 2000), 1,000 Quicks for The Guardian (2000), 15,000 cryptics for Gemini Crosswords (inc. The Features Syndicate, First Features) (2010), 5,000 cryptics for the Press Association (inc. Central Press Features, Morley Adams Ltd) 2010, 3,000 cryptics for the Glasgow Herald (2010), 3,000 cryptics for the Yorkshire Post (2010), 1,500 cryptics for the Telford Journal (2010), 1,000 cryptics for The Guardian (2010) and 1,000 cryptics for the Daily Telegraph (2010), this latter event being celebrated in an article titled "Meet the Telegraph's cryptic crossword maestro".
Many crossword anthologies, inc The Times, Guardian, Telegraph, Financial Times, Herald etc. include cryptic puzzles by Squires, including one book devoted solely to 100 of his Guardian cryptics. In collaboration with Ken Guy he produced three general knowledge books on the "The 1950s" "The 1960s" and "The 1970s". He has been featured in a number of crossword books, viz. Jonathan Crowther's "A-Z of Crosswords", ex-Daily Telegraph crossword editor's Val Gilbert's "80 Years of Cryptic crosswords" and "A Display of Lights (9)", the latter describing the lives of the Telegraph's six greatest Cryptic Crossword setters - of which Roger is the only one still living, Sandy Balfour's acclaimed memoir "Pretty Girl in Crimson and Rose(8)" - the title came from a Squires' Guardian clue - and his "A Clue to Our Lives - 80 Years of the Guardian Crossword" in which he describes Squires as "a legend in the crossword world", and in Don Manley's "Chambers Crossword Manual". In 2008 the Shropshire Star published an article, "Editor’s tribute to cryptic king Roger" about Roger's inclusion in "A Display of Lights (9)".
In 2000 the TES
Times Educational Supplement
The Times Educational Supplement is a weekly UK publication aimed primarily at school teachers in the UK. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in The Times newspaper. Such was its popularity that in 1914, the supplement became a separate publication selling for 1 penny.The TES...
published an article titled "Clued up" in which Roger was interviewed by Steven Hastings.
Apart from crosswords, he is a member of Mensa
Mensa International
Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test...
and The Magic Circle
The Magic Circle
The Magic Circle is a British organisation, founded in London in 1905, dedicated to promoting and advancing the art of magic.- History :The Magic Circle was founded in 1905 after a meeting of 23 amateur and professional magicians at London's Pinoli's Restaurant...
, and he was a Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...
observer in his twenties, during which time he qualified for the Goldfish Club (for survivors of aircraft ditchings) by escaping from his Gannet
Fairey Gannet
The Fairey Gannet was a British carrier-borne anti-submarine warfare and airborne early warning aircraft of the post-Second World War era developed for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm by the Fairey Aviation Company...
AEW
Airborne Early Warning
An airborne early warning and control system is an airborne radar system designed to detect aircraft at long ranges and control and command the battle space in an air engagement by directing fighter and attack plane strikes...
aircraft 60 feet below the surface off Ceylon (now Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
) in March 1961. His first civilian job was Entertainments Manager at Butlin's busiest Holiday Camp at Bognor Regis. "When I realised I was paying a professional act more for one night than I was being paid for a week" said Squires "I knew I was in the wrong job". He left to earn his living from crosswords, acting, writing and magic. From 1964 to 1977 he made over 250 appearances on TV as a comedy magician (26 Rolf Harris Shows (BBC1), five Crackerjacks (BBC1) ATV Today etc.); as an actor (three months in the weekday Crossroads (ITV) as Amy Turtle's nephew Harold Bracket, and roles in Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a 1974 British spy novel by John le Carré, featuring George Smiley. Smiley is a middle-aged, taciturn, perspicacious intelligence expert in forced retirement. He is recalled to hunt down a Soviet mole in the "Circus", the highest echelon of the Secret Intelligence...
, "Licking Hitler", "Spy Trap", War and Peace
War and Peace
War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature...
, etc., plus films including The Beauty Jungle; and as a contestant (Countdown
Countdown (TV series)
Countdown was a long-running popular weekly Australian music television show broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 8 November 1974 until 19 July 1987. It was created by Executive Producer Michael Shrimpton, producer/director Robbie Weekes and record producer and music journalist...
, Crosswits
Crosswits
Crosswits is a British TV quiz show, originally hosted by Barry Cryer, then comedian Tom O'Connor took over until the show ended in 1998....
(twice), Catchword, and captained the Wolverhampton teams in both the IQ programme Pencil & Paper (ITV) and Crossword on Two (BBC2).
He was featured talking about crosswords in the TV programme "How To Solve Cryptic Crosswords" (BBC4) in 2009, and in the BBC One Show (BBC1) in 2011. In November 2011 Roger was interviewed by Shuchi on her Indian-based Crossword Unclued website.
In 1977 his marriage foundered and he gave up professional acting and magic to work from home so that he could look after his two pre-teenage sons. To earn a reasonable living he had to provide 40 crosswords a week. The head of crosswords at Central Press Features suggested he claim the title of "most prolific crossword compiler" and Norris McWhirter
Norris McWhirter
Norris Dewar McWhirter, CBE was a writer, political activist, co-founder of the Freedom Association, and a television presenter. He and his twin brother, Ross, were known internationally for the Guinness Book of Records, a book they wrote and annually updated together between 1955 and 1975...
of Guinness Records accepted this claim in 1978.
Squires is now married to Anna who brought along a 3-yr old stepdaughter Tamsin, now a doctor, to add to his stepson Simon, now a Yacht-master in Thailand, and his own son Michael, a vet with his own Sheffield practice. Michael, with wife Charlotte, has now provided grandchildren Esme and Oscar.
A keen sportsman, Squires represented the Royal Navy and Fleet Air Arm at football and cricket and is a qualified Football Association Coach and Referee. He played competitive squash until age 65. He stills swims regularly.
(From Roger Squires: Wikipedia have asked me to provide the anagram for the "Longest Word in a Published Crossword (see above):
"Giggling troll follows Clancy, Larry, Billy and Peggy who howl, wrongly disturbing a place in Wales (58)" )