I just had a conversation with my good pal Frank, who was Head Teacher at Temple Sutton Primary School for very many years (our kids went there and I was vice chair of governors for the best part of 10 years). I haven't spoken to him for over a year - we used to meet fairly regularly at a monthly local concert series on Friday evenings, but of course they have gone by the wayside.
We nattered for quite a time and the subject came round to cryptic crosswords. Frank is a great solver, and he told me that when he was 60, his wife paid Araucaria (Rev. John Graham) to compile a crossword specially for Frank. It cost her about £30. Frank's verdict on Araucaria: "He was a lovely man."