Now that The Times has a searchable archive of all editions until about 1985, we can expect to see occasional pointers to crossword stories of the past. If this one's anything to go by, they should be quite a laugh.
This one, on the paper's Games and Puzzles page, tells us about a London University prof's intriguing idea that foreign students studying English should use the Times crossword (as well as the novels of PG Wodehouse) as part of their studies. As the article says (my italics), "He advised the students during their course to try to tackle one of them - though he himself had hardly ever completed one."
It's an interesting idea (the students must have been quite advanced in English to listen to this speech, and the puzzle wasn't as cryptic then), but I can't believe it had much educational benefit.
It's not all amusing though - the course was starting in July 1939, and the University apparently regarded it as a small contribution to international understanding and friendship. Too small alas, and presumably too late for all the attendees to complete the course if it ran into September.
This one, on the paper's Games and Puzzles page, tells us about a London University prof's intriguing idea that foreign students studying English should use the Times crossword (as well as the novels of PG Wodehouse) as part of their studies. As the article says (my italics), "He advised the students during their course to try to tackle one of them - though he himself had hardly ever completed one."
It's an interesting idea (the students must have been quite advanced in English to listen to this speech, and the puzzle wasn't as cryptic then), but I can't believe it had much educational benefit.
It's not all amusing though - the course was starting in July 1939, and the University apparently regarded it as a small contribution to international understanding and friendship. Too small alas, and presumably too late for all the attendees to complete the course if it ran into September.
