Crosswords

My friend from Tokyo and I never have a cross word though we have recently been discussing our interest in cryptic crosswords.  She is much more computer literate than I am and  is getting on like a house on fire.  I rely on my ancient Collins Pocket Thesaurus when I need to clarify some of the more incomprehensible words.  I was taught that every single word in the clue plays a significant part in the answer.
I started doing the Daily Telegraph cryptic crossword when I was sixteen or seventeen.  During 1939/40, in what we called the "phoney war" before the bombs started falling on us, we spent a lot of time in Civil Defence waiting for something to happen.  The members of staff were a mixed lot of civil servants, Local Government people, ex-service men (known as old sweats) and volunteers.  A chap who had previously been an architect at the London County Council got me started on the crossword  and I have been attempting to do it  almost every day since.  I say attempting to do it as I don't always manage to complete it.  Some days are easier than others depending on the compiler ( a brainbox if ever there was one).  Sometimes I am ploughing away for two or three days.
I feel my day is not complete without tackling my crossword.  We made the headlines in the local paper when we went on honey moon to the south of France in 1947.  Foreign travel was a novelty then.  I couldn't go for a fortnight without my crossword.  You should have heard the shrieks of hilarity from my office colleagues  when I said I was taking a crossword book on my honeymoon!