Pictured above is Creech Grange Arch in Dorset and that, the Flâneuse feels she must confess at once, is almost all you will hear about follies this week, for she has been busy gallivanting in search of gazebos and grottoes. But if you are a folly fan who is also something of a cruciverbalist then read on.

Regular readers will know that the Flâneuse loves a tangent and can’t resist throwing in the odd random, but fascinating (hopefully), fact. In July 2022 she wrote about an article in an 1898 issue of Pearson’s magazine in which Edward le Martin-Breton wrote a rather dismissive article about follies. For example, Creech Grange Arch, aka Bond’s Folly, which was erected as an eye-catcher in the middle of the eighteenth century, was described as ‘a piece of useless architecture’.

Pearson’s, as the Flâneuse mentioned at the time, has a rather special claim to fame – in 1922 it is said to have featured the first ever crossword, then called a ‘word square’, to appear in a British publication. This reference was spotted by Yves Cunow, a French crossword compiler and historian, who was researching for a new book: Un Siècle de Mots Croisés. He contacted the Flâneuse, who was happy to pass on what she knew of this now forgotten title.

With his research complete, Yves has now generously shared the pages from Pearson’s featuring that very first ‘word square’ and the solution from the subsequent issue, so you can give it a go. Sadly there is no prize motor-car on offer. Bon courage!

Before you check your answers here’s one of the few follies that Mr le Martin-Breton actually liked: Conygar Tower at Dunster in Somerset. He described it as ‘sufficiently picturesque enough to escape the censure that has been given to so many similar erections’.

And here is the solution, plus a new puzzle if you require ‘an hour’s most interesting entertainment’.

For the article on follies in Pearson’s see https://thefollyflaneuse.com/famous-follies-a-nineteenth-century-view/

For more on the new book by Yves Cunow and Yves Dupuis see https://boutique.lemonde.fr/mots-croises/3238-un-siecle-de-mots-croises.html

After that diversion the focus will return to follies and landscape ornament next week. Thank you for reading.