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Earlier this week there was a URL illicitly posted in a number of
places that caused ructions.
However, Gale obviously realised that there was great interest in the
database so they have made a legitimate free trial offer. There is
nothing illicite about this offer.
If you go to http://access.gale.com/gdctrial/ and register, using
"None" in the institution field and "International" in the location
field and you will get an email with your personal log in details from
Gale that not only lets you have access to the 19th Century British
Library newspapers but The Times and many other databases too.
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It is quite interesting once you are in. Of course it is mainly American
literature etc being an American site but interesting none the less.
Rodders
Great news if you want to study the development of the puzzle
in detail, but not of much interest to current Times solvers.
Puzzles from most of the period up to 1985 relied much more
on literary knowledge, and especially before 1965, sometimes
used clues that wouldn't appear in today's Times.
The paper's Crossword Club service may have its faults, but for
a £5 sub for one month, you could collect an archive of a couple
of thousand puzzles from the last 8 years or so.
Peter B