My latest comedy thriller, "The Rothko Room" will no doubt be another self-published effort and in a bid to drum up some interest amongst my friends throughout the literary world, I have come up with a novel, yet risky idea. What I have done is compiled a crossword puzzle. In "The Rothko Room", it is established that agents may receive information via crossword puzzles.
The puzzle I've compiled is what's know as a "Pointer", meaning that it contains information regarding a location. This particular puzzle is a "Treasure Island Pointer", meaning that is meant for a Cleaner - an assassin. Read the excerpt below for a bit of context.
On successful completion of the puzzle, people will be directed to website, where they will find information that will enable them to view the first three chapters of the book and be entered into a draw. The first TEN entries drawn from the list of successful code-breakers will receive a free copy of "The Rothko Room" e-book - (expected publication date: August 2013: offer ends 31 December 2013.
I've sent the puzzle to the following host: http://crossword.info/arthur/Hebe (just click) with instructions the first ten who complete the puzzle successfully to claim their prize of a free e-book of "The Rothko Room".
If you'd like to have a go (and tell your friends to do the same), check it out. I don't even know if this is legal or if the host site will work properly but I thought it worth a try.
"‘Shepherd?’ It was Stainforth. He peered at Arthur over his glasses. ‘You had a look at the Telegraph crossword this morning?’
‘No. I don’t do it as often as I used to – now that I don’t have to. Why, what’s up?’
‘I think we might have a little Treasure Island going on.’
‘Really?’
Arthur folded the Guardian and picked up the Telegraph. Many years ago, before more sophisticated techniques had evolved, both M.I.6 and the Council would sometimes hide messages in the Times Crossword. There would be certain clues that would be of significance to those who knew what to look out for. Patterns and themes would indicate, for example, who the message might be aimed at or where meetings might take place. All Council Workers had been required to complete the Times Crossword each day.
But as soon as that venal Aussie had taken over, things had altered. Some of the writing became barely literate for a start and even Council employees weren’t paid enough to wade through that. So gradually, the Telegraph had taken over as message-board of choice. As far as he knew, though, the Intelligence Services had stopped messaging this way in the nineteen nineties. Now, according to Stainforth, there appeared to have been a posting.
‘Have a look Shepherd. Could be a co-incidence or I may even, God forbid – have got it wrong. See what you think.’
Arthur took out his pen and folded the paper back on itself. The clue offering the most words was: 25 & 6 Down: ‘Carriage-clock, gone a bit flat?’ (7, 9). Arthur wrote in: “RAILWAY TIMETABLE”. Next longest was: 1 Down: ‘He’s a hard skipper!’ (7, 5) Arthur froze, his pen poised over the page.
‘Well, I never,’ he said, as he filled in each square:
Stainforth was right: it could always be coincidence. There would have to be at least two other pertinent clues within this puzzle to be sure a signal was being sent. In addition, he would have to identify the person for whom the message was intended and that would come in the form of a coded answer. The answer that would signal that it was for him was “BARKING”. He settled down. 18 Across: ‘Slightly twisted shard of precious metal, maybe?’(6); and the real giveaway; 43 & 20 Across: ‘Dark cur! Back gold for a good return.’(5, 3). There could be no doubt, now. Something wasn’t quite right, though. Not only were the clues very easy, the answers were far too obvious. Even someone who wasn’t looking for them could spot the relationship, easily."
The puzzle I've compiled is what's know as a "Pointer", meaning that it contains information regarding a location. This particular puzzle is a "Treasure Island Pointer", meaning that is meant for a Cleaner - an assassin. Read the excerpt below for a bit of context.
On successful completion of the puzzle, people will be directed to website, where they will find information that will enable them to view the first three chapters of the book and be entered into a draw. The first TEN entries drawn from the list of successful code-breakers will receive a free copy of "The Rothko Room" e-book - (expected publication date: August 2013: offer ends 31 December 2013.
I've sent the puzzle to the following host: http://crossword.info/arthur/Hebe (just click) with instructions the first ten who complete the puzzle successfully to claim their prize of a free e-book of "The Rothko Room".
If you'd like to have a go (and tell your friends to do the same), check it out. I don't even know if this is legal or if the host site will work properly but I thought it worth a try.
"‘Shepherd?’ It was Stainforth. He peered at Arthur over his glasses. ‘You had a look at the Telegraph crossword this morning?’
‘No. I don’t do it as often as I used to – now that I don’t have to. Why, what’s up?’
‘I think we might have a little Treasure Island going on.’
‘Really?’
Arthur folded the Guardian and picked up the Telegraph. Many years ago, before more sophisticated techniques had evolved, both M.I.6 and the Council would sometimes hide messages in the Times Crossword. There would be certain clues that would be of significance to those who knew what to look out for. Patterns and themes would indicate, for example, who the message might be aimed at or where meetings might take place. All Council Workers had been required to complete the Times Crossword each day.
But as soon as that venal Aussie had taken over, things had altered. Some of the writing became barely literate for a start and even Council employees weren’t paid enough to wade through that. So gradually, the Telegraph had taken over as message-board of choice. As far as he knew, though, the Intelligence Services had stopped messaging this way in the nineteen nineties. Now, according to Stainforth, there appeared to have been a posting.
‘Have a look Shepherd. Could be a co-incidence or I may even, God forbid – have got it wrong. See what you think.’
Arthur took out his pen and folded the paper back on itself. The clue offering the most words was: 25 & 6 Down: ‘Carriage-clock, gone a bit flat?’ (7, 9). Arthur wrote in: “RAILWAY TIMETABLE”. Next longest was: 1 Down: ‘He’s a hard skipper!’ (7, 5) Arthur froze, his pen poised over the page.
‘Well, I never,’ he said, as he filled in each square:
Stainforth was right: it could always be coincidence. There would have to be at least two other pertinent clues within this puzzle to be sure a signal was being sent. In addition, he would have to identify the person for whom the message was intended and that would come in the form of a coded answer. The answer that would signal that it was for him was “BARKING”. He settled down. 18 Across: ‘Slightly twisted shard of precious metal, maybe?’(6); and the real giveaway; 43 & 20 Across: ‘Dark cur! Back gold for a good return.’(5, 3). There could be no doubt, now. Something wasn’t quite right, though. Not only were the clues very easy, the answers were far too obvious. Even someone who wasn’t looking for them could spot the relationship, easily."
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