About Me

I am Tim King, the professional crossword setter who sets as Encota. I’ve loved solving and setting crosswords for many years and am now creating puzzles for a living.

I’ve been published:
– in The Listener in The Times – badged by some as ‘the world’s hardest advanced cryptic crossword’ – where, for example, my 2017 puzzle Forgotten Middle Rows was a thematic tribute to the author Iain Banks … and in 2018 my puzzle themed on A Midsummer Night’s Dream was published for midsummer night
– in the Sunday Telegraph, including an anniversary Enigmatic Variations puzzle for the 50th anniversary of the formation of Radios 1, 2, 3 & 4
– in the ‘i’ newspaper, including an anniversary Inquisitor puzzle for the 50th anniversary of Sweden’s conversion of driving on the left to driving on the right
– in the Magpie specialist crossword magazine, both cryptic thematic and numerical puzzles
– numerous times on Big Dave’s website, the site that provides support to Telegraph solvers

I am also the crossword editor for the Institute of Telecommunications Professionals (ITP) journal and set the regular crossword for the Trinity College Cambridge in-house magazine The Fountain.

I always have several puzzles in preparation at any one time, plus others in ‘vetting’ queues with major publications.

I particularly love creating themed puzzles – whether that’s for personalised, thoughtful and unique gifts as presents, or for journals and papers where a particular theme is required and encouraged. If any of these might interest you or your organisation, please don’t hesitate to email me.

As a solver, I am probably close to the ‘addict’ category! I will normally solve at least a couple of cryptics a day, plus the Listener every week, The Magpie’s six puzzles every month, Crossnumber Quarterly’s ten or so puzzles every quarter, and so on.

I regularly blog at Listen With Others (as Tim / Encota), the site dedicated to those who solve The Listener plus I normally provide weekly constructive feedback at Big Dave’s Rookie Corner, where new setters get the chance to be first published and be supported. It worked for me!