At primary school, the only maths lessons I enjoyed were Wednesdays' as that meant brain teasers, and Fridays' as that meant logic problems. And it's maybe in these classes that the love of puzzles was first instilled in me.

Then a year or so after leaving uni, I saw an advertisement for the job of puzzle magazine editor. In my letter of application, I cheerfully pointed out that I had none of the requisite IT skills, but that the chief point in my favour (aside from a fondness for puzzles) was my knobbly knuckles, which in palmistry are said to indicate a problem-solving-loving mind. Remarkably, I landed the job. And that was, hmm, well over a decade ago now.

I joined Puzzler in 2006. And it's here that I've become enamoured with a puzzle type that before had always confounded me, the cryptic crossword. Clues had always seemed so very impenetrable. But once having read about how clues are constructed, I began to understand the 'language of the clues'. I wouldn't pretend to be able to solve a cryptic with highfaluting literary references, but that's why I enjoy Puzzler's crosswords so much: they're accessible cryptics for the common man. (You can read some cryptic tips in the Puzzler Encyclopedia.)

Outside of work, I have a keen interest in photography and motorcycling.