In
doing so, he has become the sixth in an elite band of individuals who
have won the competition since it was first held in 2005.
Gerrard, whose day job is as financial controller at consumer organisation Which?,
completed four puzzles in just 18 minutes but then had to wait a
nail-biting three-quarters of an hour while the other seven finalists
finished and all their contributions were checked for accuracy.
“It was a great relief when they announced that I had won,” he told economia.
He took home a large silver trophy – “which I struggled to fit in my bag” – and a cheque for £1,000.
Gerrard added modestly that he “got a
bit lucky” on the day – it was the fourth time he’d been in the finals
out of six attempts – and that he had been helped by the absence of
several previous winners.
However, according to The Times,
this year’s championship attracted a strong field with an average of 83
of the 100 competitors in each preliminary round completing the puzzles
within the allotted time – which is almost twice as many as usual.
In winning, Gerrard thwarted the
ambition of fellow ICAEW member and finalist Mark Goodliffe. Known as
the “Usain Bolt of crosswords”, he has been Times crossword
champion six times and dreams of winning both competitions in the same
year. He regularly makes it into the sudoku finals and has come second
on one occasion. This year he managed third.
He does not need to worry that Gerrard
will pip him to the post. Although Gerrard does the occasional
crossword, he is not an avid fan. Rather, he says, he will be focusing
on next year’s sudoku championship.
“It’s nice to have won it,” he added, “but it will make it harder next year defending the title.”
- See more at: http://economia.icaew.com/news/september-2013/chartered-accountant-takes-su-doku-crown#sthash.PxNTHAay.dpuf
In
doing so, he has become the sixth in an elite band of individuals who
have won the competition since it was first held in 2005.
Gerrard, whose day job is as financial controller at consumer organisation Which?,
completed four puzzles in just 18 minutes but then had to wait a
nail-biting three-quarters of an hour while the other seven finalists
finished and all their contributions were checked for accuracy.
“It was a great relief when they announced that I had won,” he told economia.
He took home a large silver trophy – “which I struggled to fit in my bag” – and a cheque for £1,000.
Gerrard added modestly that he “got a
bit lucky” on the day – it was the fourth time he’d been in the finals
out of six attempts – and that he had been helped by the absence of
several previous winners.
However, according to The Times,
this year’s championship attracted a strong field with an average of 83
of the 100 competitors in each preliminary round completing the puzzles
within the allotted time – which is almost twice as many as usual.
In winning, Gerrard thwarted the
ambition of fellow ICAEW member and finalist Mark Goodliffe. Known as
the “Usain Bolt of crosswords”, he has been Times crossword
champion six times and dreams of winning both competitions in the same
year. He regularly makes it into the sudoku finals and has come second
on one occasion. This year he managed third.
He does not need to worry that Gerrard
will pip him to the post. Although Gerrard does the occasional
crossword, he is not an avid fan. Rather, he says, he will be focusing
on next year’s sudoku championship.
“It’s nice to have won it,” he added, “but it will make it harder next year defending the title.”
- See more at: http://economia.icaew.com/news/september-2013/chartered-accountant-takes-su-doku-crown#sthash.PxNTHAay.dpuf