The champion is back but the young pretenders are after his crown. Mark Goodliffe, the most successful solver in the 54-year history of The Times Crossword Championship, regained the trophy on Saturday after finishing the final cryptic puzzle in under five minutes — just ahead of Chloe Hutton, 27, a first-time competitor and one of several younger solvers who came to the fore this year. The 116 contestants were whittled down to five finalists, with Hutton in second and Liam Hughes, also 27, coming third. Hutton won the Richard Rogan prize for best new entrant, created in memory of the Times crossword editor who died in June. Goodliffe, 59, a former financial director who co-runs Cracking the Cryptic, a crossword and sudoku channel on

Source: The Times October 21, 2024 21:01 UTC