A Display of Lights (9): The Lives and Puzzles of the Telegraph’s Six Greatest Cryptic Crossword Setters

A Display of Lights (9)* is not just a collection of classic puzzles, it is also a history of the crossword itself and a joint biography of six of its most talented practitioners.

Far from the closeted intellectuals you might expect, these puzzlers have had extraordinary lives, some tragic, some awe-inspiring; all are fascinating (one was arrested under suspicion of supplying secrets to the Nazis through his clues). Val Gilbert tells the life story of each alongside an explanation of what makes their clues so fiendishly rewarding, and ends each chapter with a selection of the greatest puzzles from across their career.

A Display of Lights (9) is two books in one - a great read in its own right, and a collection of some of the greatest crosswords of all time. It’s the perfect gift for lovers of cryptic crosswords everywhere.

*Answer: Crossword (a ‘light’ is a word for ‘clue’ in crossword parlance, so: a display of lights/display of clues/crossword)