Derrick
MacNutt passed in
June 1971 and it was partly in response to the void left that Eric
started the
annual solving and clue-writing competition which became known as
‘A Puzzle
Every Xmas’. These
crosswords were circulated amongst a select band of crossword friends,
many of
whom had been noteworthy participants in Ximenes’ monthly
clue-writing
competitions in The Observer.
On
27 June 1981, at a
dinner organised by this group, Mary Macnutt, the widow of Ximenes,
presented
him with Ximenes' handwritten book of prize-winning clues. In
the fly leaf
she had inscribed the following message, “Apex, I would love
you to have this.
Though shabby without, there are treasures within.”
Carefully,
painstakingly
type-written and often augmented with cartoons and caricatures, the
A.P.E.X.
series became a staple for this dedicated crossword group. Often comprising more than
one puzzle, at
least one of which would require solvers to compile a clue for a word
within,
or generated by the crossword. The
clues
offered by solvers were then circulated to the group for voting to
determine an
overall winner. The
winning clues in
each instance are included with the solutions in this book.
The
A.P.E.X. venture took
on a charitable element in later years, firstly in aid of Help the Aged
and
latterly as a vehicle for raising money for the Moorfields Eye Hospital
in
gratitude for his treatment, a practice that continues to this day
through the
continuation of the series by Phi.
All
profits from the publication of this book will be similarly donated,
continuing
Eric’s lasting gratitude for the hospital’s
essential work.
Eric’s health declined towards the end of his life, such that, with regret, he decided that his last A.P.E.X. puzzle would be that for 2001. However, such was the demand from participants for A.P.E.X. to continue, that the series swiftly found a new setter in the form of Paul Henderson, who most frequently sets under the pseudonym, Phi (among many others). With just a little adaptation therefore, the series is now called ‘A Phi Every Xmas’.