The Surprising Origins of Some Very Famous Pen Names

Or, why Lewis Carroll was almost called Edgar Cuthwellis.

My earliest experiences of the unique British torture device known as the Cryptic Crossword Puzzle were when my grandparents would retire to their armchairs and solemnly solve The Times daily cryptic together after lunch, with a brandy probably. My grandfather would take charge of the paper itself and carefully read out each clue followed by the number of blanks and any already filled-in letters, and my grandmother would listen attentively, brow furrowed and pen and notepad at the ready to expertly disassemble any sneaky anagrams that were foolish enough to emerge from their foxholes. For anyone unfamiliar with the cryptic format (such as 8-year-old me), the scene would play out like a dream sequence, with all the appearance but none of the underpinnings of a logical conversation. “Make poor spelling naughty in a down clue …” my grandfather would read out (for instance) “… ‘I,’ six blanks, ‘I,’ blank, blank.” And then they’d both sit in contemplative silence for 30 seconds before one of them would, improbably, shout, “Impoverish!” and move on to the next.¹

I witnessed this loving and rather beautiful ritual countless times, but there are two specific answers that have remained lodged in my memory all these years, although I’ve sadly…