H. C. Casserley. The Historic Locomotive Pocketbook (1960) & Mike Laws, ed The Times Crossword Book 2 (2001)

     H. C. Casserley. The Historic Locomotive Pocketbook (1960) A survey of about 200 loco types that Casserley thinks have historical significance. While his write-ups are interesting, few of them persuade that their subjects are indeed as significant as Casserley believes. That is, most neither epitomised contemporary locomotive practice nor greatly influenced future development. Still, a nice little book, with lots of info of the kind that’s crucial when you need it. ** (2006)

     Mike Laws, ed The Times Crossword Book 2 (2001) Same successes and issues as with Book 1. The clues that rely on British usages and customs I can tolerate. Those that misunderstand N. American usage annoy me. Rebuses whose parts bear no relation to each whatever annoy me greatly. Those that use metaphoric definitions are simply unacceptable - metaphors cannot be reverse engineered. But I spent many happy hours doing these crosswords. ** (2006)