Derrick Somerset Macnutt

Derrick Somerset Macnutt
Born	Derrick Somerset Macnutt 29 March 1902 Eastbourne, East Sussex, England
Died	1971 Five Oaks, Billingshurst, West Sussex, England
Nationality	British, English
Occupation	School master, crossword compiler

Derrick Somerset Macnutt (1902–1971) was a British crossword compiler who provided crosswords for The Observer newspaper under the pseudonym Ximenes. His main oeuvre was blocked-grid and "specialty" puzzles. Even though he only provided conventional blocked puzzles once a week for the Observer Everyman series for about two years his strong views on cluing, expressed in his 1966 book, have been a source of debate in the cryptic crossword world ever since.

Macnutt was born at Eastbourne in Sussex and was educated at Marlborough College before achieving a double first in classics at Jesus College, Cambridge. Between 1928 and 1963 he held the position of Head of Classics at Christ's Hospital near Horsham, West Sussex, as well as being a housemaster.

In 1939 he took over the position of crossword compiler for The Observer on the death of Edward Powys Mathers, who had written under the name of "Torquemada". Macnutt selected the name Ximenes after Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, one of Torquemada's successors as Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition. He pronounced 'Ximenes' in an Anglicised fashion, ['zɪmɘniːz].

His crossword style was initially in imitation of Torquemada, but was soon influenced by the inventive puzzles of Alistair Ferguson Ritchie who wrote as Afrit in The Listener.

Macnutt died in 1971, and puzzle 1200, his final crossword to be published, appeared in 1972. He was succeeded by Jonathan Crowther, who writes under the name Azed.

From 1943, he was also a contributor to The Listener, writing crosswords under the pseudonym Tesremos – his middle name spelled backwards.

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