Crossword blog: time to take stock

Some questions about what we should be doing – or not doing!

Some news. The Guardian’s well loved crossword editor Hugh Stephenson – who took over from the first editor John Perkin in 1997 – has decided that a quarter of a century of puzzles is probably service enough. (It’s over 10,000 of the things, according to my quick calculations.)

We will return to Hugh’s achievements in due course; in the meantime, I have been keen to let you know that Guardian puzzles are now arriving at my desk. And that’s why we have recently changed our subhead from “Clue of the Fortnight” to “Clue from Elsewhere of the Fortnight”: I now love all clues by all Guardian setters with equal passion and could not single any out.

Doubtless this will have an effect on what we discuss here, so it gives us an opportunity to take stock.