John

Like many others, I got into this crossword habit during the lockdowns. It is getting progressively harder to find the time to maintain the habit. This may just push me to decide to stop. There is a clever idea in this puzzle, but….

What I appreciate in a puzzle such as this is that - despite knowing less than nothing about sport - all the sporty answers filled themselves with prompts from the crosses or vague memories of names and phrases I must have heard in the news. Clever construction indeed. My only problem was that I tried to make it Phew instead of Whew.

122 across. Supporter of the arts? This one had me laughing out loud.

Every single sporting reference (and they usually defeat me) could be filled by crosses. 5 stars to the setter.

Did I really just solve a Thursday puzzle with no help from the Wordplay column? It must be a very easy one. A fun one, though. Enjoyable.