John Derek Crozier under the pseudonym "Crosaire", was the compiler of the "Irish Times

The Irish Times

The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...

crossword" from its inception in 1943 until his death. Since he has been the sole compiler, the crossword is often called "the Crosaire" by metonymy

Metonymy

Metonymy is a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept...

. It is a cryptic crossword

Cryptic crossword

Cryptic crosswords are crossword puzzles in which each clue is a word puzzle in and of itself. Cryptic crosswords are particularly popular in the United Kingdom, where they originated, Ireland, the Netherlands, and in several Commonwealth nations, including Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malta,...

, in contrast to the "Simplex crossword" which soon came to be published alongside it. Crozier's pseudonym "Crosaire" is a play on his own surname and crosaire, the Irish

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

 for "crossroads".

He retained an idiosyncratic approach to compilation; his crosswords never came to conform to the standards developed in Britain by "Ximenes

Derrick Somerset Macnutt

Derrick Somerset Macnutt was a British crossword compiler who provided crosswords for The Observer newspaper under the pseudonym Ximenes. He was one of the principal influences on the modern style of cryptic crossword.- Career :...

". The day he died saw puzzle No 14,120 published; The Irish Times crossword editor estimated there were a year's worth of his puzzles remaining to be published.

He was born in Dublin and educated at Castle Park preparatory school

Preparatory school (UK)

In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...

 in Dalkey

Dalkey

Dalkey is suburb of Dublin and seaside resort in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became an important port during the Middle Ages. According to John Clyn, it was one of the ports through which the plague entered Ireland in the mid-14th century...

 and Repton School

Repton School

Repton School, founded in 1557, is a co-educational English independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the British public school tradition, located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, in the Midlands area of England...

 in England. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

 in 1940. He worked in administration at the Guinness Brewery in St. James's Gate

St. James's Gate

St. James's Gate, located off the south quays of Dublin, on James Street, was the western entrance to the city during the Middle Ages. During this time it was the traditional starting point for the Dublin pilgrimage Camino to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Now central to a industrial area, St...

. He was introduced to editor Bertie Smyllie at an Irish Times party in a Dublin pub on Christmas Eve 1942, where he mentioned his hobby of compiling crosswords. Smyllie commissioned him and the first Crosaire was printed on 13 March 1943. Initially it appeared weekly on Saturdays, with Wednesdays added in 1950, Tuesdays in 1955, and a daily puzzle from 1982.

In 1948 Crozier emigrated to Southern Rhodesia

Southern Rhodesia

Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...

, now Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

, to work as a tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

 and maize

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

 farmer in Sinoia, now Chinhoyi

Chinhoyi

Chinhoyi is a large provincial town and is the capital of Mashonaland West province in Zimbabwe. Sinoia was established in 1906 as a group settlement scheme by a wealthy Italian called Lieutenant Margherito Guidotti who encouraged 10 Italian families to settle there.- Overview :Chinhoyi is located...

. He found farming difficult and the meagre income from his puzzles was important. In the Southern Rhodesian general election, 1962, he stood for the United Federal Party

United Federal Party

The United Federal Party, previously known as the United Party and the United Rhodesia Party, was one of Southern Rhodesia's most successful political parties, and governed the country for over 30 years...

 in the Gwebi constituency, losing to Rhodesian Front

Rhodesian Front

The Rhodesian Front was a political party in Southern Rhodesia when the country was under white minority rule. Led first by Winston Field, and, from 1964, by Ian Smith, the Rhodesian Front was the successor to the Dominion Party, which was the main opposition party in Southern Rhodesia during the...

 candidate James Graham, 7th Duke of Montrose. From 1963–89 he taught at St George's College in Salisbury, now Harare

Harare

Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...

. His puzzles were often delivered to Ireland through visitors from abroad to avoid the vagaries of the Zimbabwe postal system. He travelled to Dublin in 1993 for the 50th anniversary of his first puzzle, during which he appeared on The Late Late Show

The Late Late Show

The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...

and at a forum for 400 fans chosen by lottery. He died at his home in Nyanga

Nyanga, Zimbabwe

Nyanga is a town in the province of Manicaland, Zimbabwe, located adjacent to Nyanga National Park in the Eastern Highlands about 105 km north of Mutare. According to the 1982 Population Census, the town had a population of 2,973....

, aged 92. A memorial service was held at St George's College, attended by his three sons.