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  • Machiavelli died (12/10/2019)

    From Ross Clark@21:1/5 to All on Sat Oct 12 22:52:40 2024
    No, the other one, aka Joyce Cansfield (b.1929) a British crossword
    compiler and general puzzle-wizard.
    Follow some notes about puzzlers' pseudonymns (members of Spanish
    Inquisition favoured) and cryptic crossword clues. You probably know
    more than I do about these things.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Aidan Kehoe@21:1/5 to All on Sat Oct 12 19:42:26 2024
    Ar an dara lá déag de mí Deireadh Fómhair, scríobh Ross Clark:

    No, the other one, aka Joyce Cansfield (b.1929) a British crossword compiler and general puzzle-wizard.
    Follow some notes about puzzlers' pseudonymns (members of Spanish Inquisition
    favoured) and cryptic crossword clues. You probably know more than I do about
    these things.

    Is “nothing at all” more than what you know?

    “She studied for her undergraduate degree in statistics at Westfield College, University of London and her early career involved the running of an early mainframe computer at the UK's Dental Estimates Board in Eastbourne. Later on she worked at the University of Leeds as a statistician.[1][2]”

    I wondered for a second if Cansfield had worked in codebreaking in Bletchley Park, but she was 10 in 1939, a little bit young, even for wartime. Another article on her: https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/7992607.why-joyceis-still-thequeen-ofwhy-joyce-is-still-the-queen-of-scrabble/

    --
    ‘As I sat looking up at the Guinness ad, I could never figure out /
    How your man stayed up on the surfboard after fourteen pints of stout’
    (C. Moore)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Ross Clark@21:1/5 to Aidan Kehoe on Sun Oct 13 21:56:55 2024
    On 13/10/2024 7:42 a.m., Aidan Kehoe wrote:

    Ar an dara lá déag de mí Deireadh Fómhair, scríobh Ross Clark:

    > No, the other one, aka Joyce Cansfield (b.1929) a British crossword compiler
    > and general puzzle-wizard.
    > Follow some notes about puzzlers' pseudonymns (members of Spanish Inquisition
    > favoured) and cryptic crossword clues. You probably know more than I do about
    > these things.

    Is “nothing at all” more than what you know?

    “She studied for her undergraduate degree in statistics at Westfield College,
    University of London and her early career involved the running of an early mainframe computer at the UK's Dental Estimates Board in Eastbourne. Later on she worked at the University of Leeds as a statistician.[1][2]”

    Yes Crystal mentions that Statistician was her day job.
    I'm glad there is (or was) a Dental Estimates Board, whatever it is they
    do (did).

    I wondered for a second if Cansfield had worked in codebreaking in Bletchley Park, but she was 10 in 1939, a little bit young, even for wartime. Another article on her: https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/7992607.why-joyceis-still-thequeen-ofwhy-joyce-is-still-the-queen-of-scrabble/


    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Aidan Kehoe@21:1/5 to All on Sun Oct 13 11:05:15 2024
    Ar an triú lá déag de mí Deireadh Fómhair, scríobh Ross Clark:

    “[Joyce Cansfield] studied for her undergraduate degree in statistics at Westfield College, University of London and her early career involved the running of an early mainframe computer at the UK's Dental Estimates Board in Eastbourne. Later on she worked at the University of Leeds as a statistician.[1][2]”

    Yes Crystal mentions that Statistician was her day job.
    I'm glad there is (or was) a Dental Estimates Board, whatever it is they do (did).

    https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C625

    Apparently a body to regulate the provision of and payment for NHS dentistry, back when that was more than a theoretical idea.

    “According to the figures, for each single-tooth extraction that a dentist carries out under the NHS, the government currently pays the dental practice £19.47.”

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-64631019

    The minimum wage in Northern Ireland is £11.44 / hour. Dental receptionists are
    going to be getting more than minimum wage. Dental hygienists are going to be getting much more than minimum wage. Let’s say twenty minutes per extraction, assuming one receptionist and one hygienist employed, reimbursement of £ 58.41 for an hour (three extractions), labour costs of £ 45 for one receptionist and one hygienist, electricity, rent, indemnity, every other cost of running a business; there is no way that fee will cover costs, ignoring any profit for the dentist.

    --
    ‘As I sat looking up at the Guinness ad, I could never figure out /
    How your man stayed up on the surfboard after fourteen pints of stout’
    (C. Moore)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)