I went to the library and copied the old Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon Puzzlers from the Atlantic. I've been solving them in order and grading them. Sean said I should blog the grades, so I am.
Dec 1978 -- Starlights B-
Nov 1978 -- Decipherment B
Oct 1978 -- Octaves B
Sep 1978 -- Torn Clues C+
Aug 1978 -- Back To Back C+
Jul 1978 -- Drosswords B-
Jun 1978 -- Abecedarian Jigsaw B+
May 1978 -- Lines of Demarcation C
Apr 1978 -- Vicious Circles B+
Mar 1978 -- Musical Chairs C-
Feb 1978 -- Disguise C+
Jan 1978 -- Eightsome Reels C
Dec 1977 -- News Clippings B-
Nov 1977 -- Sixes And Sevens B
Oct 1977 -- Masquerade Ball D+
Sep 1977 -- Short and Sweet C+
I'd like to point out that, though I dabble in Cryptic Crossword construction, I could never produce the kinds of consistent and interesting variety puzzles that Hex do. I'm grading these as an aid to solvers, not because I think I could do better. Note: by their own admission, many early Hex puzzles were more British in nature and therefore have less than standard clues.
No A's? I guess I should have known, having lived with your wacky moods as you plowed thru them. Or do they get better and better?
Posted by: nichole | July 01, 2004 at 09:32 AM
Actually, this post was caused by sending Sean the 1982 summary list on which I awarded the first two full As. A-'s show up as early as 1980.
They definitely get better. I'll post those later lists later.
Posted by: JmSR | July 01, 2004 at 02:34 PM