Some of the more well-known among the puzzle’s devotees
Any list of notable solvers is by definition partial and far from impartial. Were I, though, to assemble an All-Star Crossword Team of solvers past and present, I would choose:
Frank Sinatra, who wrote a fan letter to the New York Times puzzle editor giving his solving times, remarking: “What a wonderful way to pass the time and also learn new answers every day”
Christopher Robin, who would cosolve at the age of eighteen on the sofa with his father, A. A. Milne
Indira Gandhi, whose participation in a bilateral economic cooperation agreement is attributed by diplomat and champion solver Roy Dean to an ice-breaking conversation about crosswords beforehand
Norman Mailer, who told Newsweek in 2003 that “this is how I comb my brain every morning,” adding, “I’m hurt that I’m never in one of them. And I’ve got a last name with three vowels. You’d think I’d be hot cakes, but I’m not”
Thomas Keneally, who, when the BBC asked what single item he would take to a desert island, chose a collection of puzzles from the London Times
Queen Elizabeth II, who, in a 1992 profile in Vanity Fair, begins each morning with the Telegraph crossword accompanied by kippers or kidneys on toast . . .
...her sister, Princess Margaret, who once won a book as a prize in the Country Life crossword competition . . .
...and their father, King George VI, whose last act before dying of a heart attack in his sleep was a late-evening crossword solve.
(Who would be on yours? You can’t have Ol’ Clue Eyes—I’ve nabbed him . . .)