Terrible weather but a great turnout of 45 members and some “fiendishly difficult” puzzles characterised the Reigate meeting hosted by John Hyde.
The theme was “Christmas” and a splendid display of puzzles were discussed during the Show and Tell session and the day rounded off with a further impressive display of Christmas puzzles from John’s own extensive collection.
Among the puzzles shown were Pete’s lovely Enid Stocken “Come and Worship” and one of Helen’s favourites, “Christmas at Dingley Dell” by Frank Reynolds featuring many Dickens characters. Sally brought a Wentworth promotional puzzle showing the 1988 Radio Times Christmas cover. David rounded off the session with several puzzles including a colourful “Christmas Day” triptych and a Meredith Worsfold cut “Christmas Eve – A Dream”
John’s presentation included several lovely Pears print puzzles (see picture included in next article) as well as lots of other beautiful and interesting puzzles. These included Holtazpffel’s Figure=It=Out “Dick Whittington” and another pantomime puzzle “Close to Midnight” cut by Lady Beatrice Wilkinson. He finished off with a “final curiosity” entitled “Privacy” showing the Royal Family enjoying Christmas at Sandringham, with the Queen, just a little girl, clutching her teddy bear, in the foreground!