Maybe you're just getting better at solving them Paul? It could be that Araucaria is softening you up before he hits you with the real Christmas Crossword which will be published on the traditional date of Christmas Eve along with the equally cryptic end of term quiz from King William's College.

Did you see the recent obituary in 'Other Lives' for Peter Graham who has died aged 86?

"He was a keen solver of the Araucaria crossword in the Guardian, commenting that he felt he knew the writer's mind. It was only after several years that he discovered that Araucaria was his elder brother, John, who had been writing secretly, while still serving as a parish priest himself."

Matthew