It’s a case of two down: the aisle. A crossword-loving UK lawyer hid a marriage proposal in the Times newspaper’s daily puzzle.
Matthew Dick thought of the cryptic way to pop the question to girlfriend Delyth Hughes, and persuaded the newspaper to agree.
Tuesday’s Times crossword opened with one across: “Pretty Welsh girl widely thought not to be all there.”
The answer: Delyth.
Other clues included: “ ‘Will you marry me,’ say, that’s forward also rude.”
The answer: proposal.
Dick (38) told yesterday’s edition of the newspaper that he had showed Hughes the crossword at breakfast, with some key words underlined, then “reached into my pocket to reveal the ring”.
“She looked so surprised and didn’t say anything for about 30 seconds, before saying ‘No’ – which she thought was hilarious.
“But she did then say ‘Yes’ and I had to tell her this was the real Times crossword, not something I had printed out myself.”
Hughes said that she was “dumbfounded that he had gone to such lengths”.
“I’ve heard all the engagement stories but this one trumps them all. It’s so special and such a geeky way of doing it,” she said.
The Times crossword editor Richard Rogan said that he believed this was the first time the newspaper had included a proposal in a puzzle. It was “a one-off”, he said, and wouldn’t be repeated. – AP