Astle's cryptics, which appear on Fridays in the Herald, are legendary for their difficulty. In terms of anagrams and arcana, they are Everest. Hence the hate mail – but he has fans too.
"I read a profile of Geoffrey Rush and he singled out my crosswords as being a bit of a hobby," Astle says. "Then I had the pleasure of interviewing him and he told me they had a puzzle-off happening on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean. Johnny Depp didn't know what the hell was going on but Orlando Bloom had his English upbringing so he was competitive. I love the image of these pirates on some atoll trying to get out an anagram."
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