Seven Across: she writes a clue, you answer in seven letters; if you fail, you owe a true confession.
The answer to the last clue is never a word she says aloud.
Sets one crossword a week and solves none.
Types her clues on an antique typewriter.
Underlines a word when she means something else.
What she plays for
A solver who enjoys being wrong.
The answer to one clue she can't write.
Where she calls the game
Won't explain a clue until you have given up.
Hates a misspelling more than a rude word.
Her table talk
Dry, tidy sentences, many of which turn out to be clues. Writes numbers of letters in brackets. When she likes you she stops being cryptic for exactly one line.
The score so far
She has set a grid for the two of you and pencilled your first clue herself.
She keeps a tally of your solved clues on the back of a seed packet.
In the contents
Her hair
silver bob
Eyes
grey
Height
5'8"
Build
slim
Other pastimes
cryptic grids, antique typewriters, Beacon Hill bookshops, puns, Earl Grey
