The Guardian Quick Crosswords 1: A collection of more than 200 entertaining puzzles (Guardian Puzzle Books)

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February 1997 20,898 and the last one-off before the online era, this was set by Joke (a collaboration between Enigmatist and Fawley). January 1976 14,361 is the last we’ll see of Logodaedalus for more than 12 and a half years: after the death of his wife, he won’t provide another Guardian crossword until September 1988. The only comparable gap is between Imogen’s first and second puzzles (10 years, three months). October 2020 28,278, the 423rd and final puzzle by Shed ( obituary). The most recent setter to leave us, Shed had a great range: he could be very tough when he wanted to be, but could also tone it down if he wanted to give solvers a fun ride, so it is not surprising that he was seen on all of the days of the week. His total puts him 11th on the all-time list.

Outside. I start each week with a filled grid printed next to headings of types of clue – soundalikes, reversals and so on – to make sure I include at least one or two of each. I write five or six clues first thing every weekday and, as with other kinds of writing, it’s usually best if I’m walking. Feb 1978 Custos sets a double puzzle titled Literal Transplants as the 15,000th Guardian puzzle. “No prize for this one – it’s just for fun.”June 1999 Crossword 21,620. The biggest day in the Guardian crossword since 28 December 1970: for the first time the puzzle is published online. Rover has the honour and in the following days and weeks he is followed by the other Guardian setters of the day: Fawley, Araucaria, Rufus, Janus, Pasquale, Chifonie, Crispa, Logodaedalus, Taupi, Plodge, Shed, Gordius, Paul, Bunthorne, Mercury, Enigmatist, Gemini, Quantum, Orlando, Audreus, Hendra, Auster, Egoist (over a year later; see above) and finally Fidelio in February 2001. Six (Araucaria, Janus, Crispa, Gordius, Bunthorne and Audreus) are survivors from the dawn of the pseudonym era. At the time of writing, three remain: Enigmatist, Pasquale and Paul. Without wanting to sound like I think I’m some kind of key worker, I was aware of a responsibility: solvers talk with such fondness about Everyman puzzles. I wanted to make sure I was setting while firmly wearing an Everyman hat. January 2002 22,420, the 181st and final puzzle by Hendra (only five of which came in the online era; obituary). May 2020 28,122, the 316th and final puzzle by Chifonie ( obituary). Another much-loved setter, for his smoothness and fairness which offered encouragement to new solvers. His total puts him 14th on the all-time Guardian list. Hm. Maybe I should stop asking other setters that, as I’m drawing a blank. Actually, some setters do offer up corkers. Anto and Carpathian did recently; likewise Vulcan and Vlad. I’ll keep the question without answering it myself.

I have a lot of admiration for the more prolific setters like Paul and (in their day) Araucaria and Rufus. I can’t sit down with a blank sheet of paper and know that in two or three hours I’ll have a puzzle, and I won’t start one until I know that I have at least three or four ideas for clues that will establish a theme. That definitely slows me down. Boatman, you describe yourself as “very nearly the slowest” Guardian setter to reach 100 puzzles. Who is slower? November 2013 26,118, officially set by “None” but widely taken to have been provided by Enigmatist, Paul and Shed, and so like Araucaria’s 90th birthday puzzle I class it as a Biggles puzzle – the 11th and last. It is a tribute to Araucaria, who had died three days previously ( obituary).Finally, in my Give Me a Clue column in this weekend’s i newspaper, I’ve quoted three of your Everyman clues as favourites – do you have any favourites of your own? September 2014 26,367, the 221st and final puzzle by Logodaedalus. An old-school setter fond of rhyming clues and acrostics, his total places him 20th on the all-time list. Custos at John Perkin’s farewell lunch, 1997. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Grand totals of current setters (as of 10 January 2023) January 2004 23,047, a one-off celebrating Australia Day by Kookaburra, who we believe to be Auster. There is a twist.

February 2018 27,442, the debut by Vulcan (former Times crossword editor Richard Browne; Meet the Setter). According to Haydon Bambury’s research, I am the second slowest of the current stable to reach 100 puzzles. Imogen took slightly longer but got there just before me and has been racing away ever since. Logodaedalus and Gemini took even longer, but that was in another century. December 2004 23,318, the 678th and final puzzle by Crispa ( obituary), who had been setting puzzles for the Guardian since 1954, four years before even Araucaria. She was not as prolific as some of her contemporaries, but set a few almost every year, only going missing entirely in 1977. Her puzzles were most commonly seen on Mondays (418) and her total places her joint sixth on the all-time list. Based on her frequency in the early 1970s it seems likely that she provided in the region of 200 more in the anonymous era. July 2003 22,893: Araucaria becomes the first (and to date only) setter to reach 2,000 credited puzzles. To put this achievement into context: if even Paul continues at his current rate he will get there some time in 2047.February 2021 28,370: Enigmatist and Soup (plant scientist Hamish Symington; Meet the Setter) collaborate on a 100th birthday tribute to Araucaria. October 2013 26,088, the debut by Otterden (Gordon Holt; Meet the Setter), the New Statesman puzzle editor who told the crossword blog in June that he “would dearly love to have just one crossword published in the Guardian”.

I doubt you have missed anything. In the 100th and 200th puzzle, there’s a quiet celebration that isn’t alliteration or rhyming. And this isn’t something I’d expect anyone to notice, but the clues that include the word “Everyman” are supposed to build, over time, a compellingly coherent and unflattering portrait. Guardian masthead as of 1959. Photograph: David McCoy/The Guardian The 1970s: the setters take on names

Everyman is my only regular crossword. The rest of the time, I do other kinds of writing: scripts, the odd book, jokes for television; and I’m the question editor for Richard Osman’s House of Games. October 1974 A glitch in the numbering system: the puzzle should have been 13,977; instead it is numbered 13,978.