Sarah Hayes, usually known as Arachne, is a British

cryptic crossword A cryptic crossword is a crossword, crossword puzzle in which each clue is a word puzzle. Cryptic crosswords are particularly popular in the United Kingdom, where they originated, as well as Ireland, the Netherlands, and in several Commonwealth ...

setter. She sets puzzles for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' (as Anarche), the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' (as Rosa Klebb), the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' (as Aranya), and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', and advanced cryptics for ''The Listener'' crossword (''The Times''), Enigmatic Variations (''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'') and the Inquisitor (''The Independent''). Hayes's clues are often smutty or political and make frequent use of the generic ''she''.

Biography

Hayes holds an

MPhil A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at least ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and between 1979 and 1997 was a lecturer in

Russian studies Russian studies is an interdisciplinary field crossing politics of Russia, politics, history of Russia, history, Culture of Russia, culture, economy of Russia, economics, and languages of Russia, languages of Russia and its neighborhood, often gr ...

at the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. A ...

, where she published ''A Study of English Nautical Loanwords in the Russian Language of the Eighteenth Century''. Hayes's first crossword was published in the ''Independent Saturday Magazine'' on 25 May 1996, and after setting some advanced barred grid cryptics for various papers on a freelance basis, she was hired by ''The Guardian'' to help set up their beginner-level "Quiptic" crossword. From there, she got a regular slot in ''The Guardian'' and other broadsheets. Hayes also took part in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

series ''

David Baddiel David Lionel Baddiel (; born 28 May 1964) is an English comedian, presenter, screenwriter, author and singer. He became known for his early work alongside Rob Newman in '' The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' and later for his comedy partnership w ...

Tries to Understand...'', setting a beginner's crossword for the show and putting together a guide to solving cryptics. After retiring as a lecturer in 1997, Hayes studied for a diploma in

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

and

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

. She currently lives in

Burnage Burnage is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, south of the city centre and bisected by Kingsway. The population at the 2011 census was 15,227. It lies within the Greater Manchester Metropolitan area, in the historic count ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, and for several years ran an online bookshop with her husband Nick.

Style

Hayes describes herself as an " anarcho- horizontalist" and her crosswords often reflect her political leanings – one of her most often cited clues reads "''Throw shoe! Bugger invaded Iraq! (6,4)''", which has the solution GEORGE BUSH (an anagram of "shoe bugger") and references the

Bush shoeing incident On 14 December 2008, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi removed his shoes and threw them at United States president George W. Bush during a joint press conference with Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, Iraq. Bush quickly ducked, ...

. Her other political crosswords have commented on current affairs, such as a puzzle in ''The Independent'' during the

Leveson inquiry The Leveson Inquiry was a judicial public inquiry into the culture, practices, and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson, who was appointed in July 2011. A serie ...

that referenced many of the main players in the case, or drawn attention to injustices: one puzzle included hidden messages "JUSTICE NOT DONE" and "

DANIEL MORGAN Daniel Morgan (c. 1736 – July 6, 1802) was an American pioneer, soldier, and politician from Virginia. One of the most respected battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783, he later commanded troops during the sup ...

" in the form of ninas as part of a campaign against police corruption, while another included the names of undercover police officers from the Special Demonstration Squad who had deceived protesters into sexual relationships. After her clue "''Woman in charge of automobile club (6)''" (DRIVER, a double definition of "motorist" and "

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety o ...

") proved surprisingly controversial, Hayes has also made a point of including women and the generic ''she'' where possible in clues. Arachne puzzles often use

sexual innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...

, to the extent that she is sometimes reined back by her editors.

Pseudonyms

Her ''Guardian''

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

, also used in ''The Listener'' and other puzzles, is drawn from the mythical Greek weaver

Arachne Arachne (; from , cognate with Latin ) is the protagonist of a tale in classical mythology known primarily from the version told by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE–17 CE). In Book Six of his epic poem ''Metamorphoses'', Ovid recounts how ...

, and references her hobby of amateur weaving. "Anarche", used in ''The Independent'', is an anagram of "Arachne" and hints at her political views. "Rosa Klebb", used in the ''Financial Times'', is taken from the James Bond villain, and references Hayes's background in Russian and her politics – the name is itself a pun on the Soviet feminist slogan '' khleb i rozy''. "Aranya", her pseudonym in the ''New Statesman'', is the Catalan for "spider".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Sarah Crossword creators People from Burnage Living people Russian studies scholars The Guardian people Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester Year of birth missing (living people)