Bob Smithies

Who was Bob Smithies?

Robert Smithies was a photographer, journalist and crossword compiler. He was born in Middleton, near Rochdale, Lancashire.

Smithies began his career from school at the Manchester Evening News as a darkroom assistant, progressing to the post of photographer there and later at the Manchester Guardian.

Smithies joined Granada Television in the mid-1970s and presented a number of television programmes between then and 2005, including Down To Earth.

Since his first cryptic crossword was accepted by The Guardian newspaper in 1966, Smithies was a regular compiler for the newspaper, under the pseudonym Bunthorne, the name taken from the leading character in the Gilbert and Sullivan light opera Patience.

As a crossword setter his clues became known for requiring potentially obscure general knowledge, ranging from Austen and Dickens to French cheeses. One of his most famous clues was "Amundsen's forwarding address" -.