Where Was I? 14/10

[goodgoalie]

Well, after over 20 years and 1,041 puzzles set, Chris Fautley has stopped setting Where Was I? No idea why, but judging by this week's short, uninteresting effort from Sean Newsom, he will be sorely missed. I must have had a crack at most of those 1,041 - right back to when you had to send the answers on a postcard to Leighton Buzzard - and a huge amount of pleasure they have given me over the years. Thank you for brightening my Sunday mornings, Chris.

[Tilly2]

Thanks for that GG. I haven't looked at it yet. Perhaps he's just having a bit of a break?

[Fibonacci]

This week's puzzle
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/travel/where-was-i/

[Tilly2]

Just read it. He's definitely gone.

Thanks, Fibonacci.

[davidsmith69]

Does that mean the competition has finished or will Chris Newsom take over. If he does I hope his efforts will be better than this week's!
David Smith

[goodgoalie]

Hadn't thought that it might be the end of the competition, though it wouldn't surprise me - all good things come to an end. Newsom's effort was really poor, though.

[Flonska]

I have been away for a fortnight working at golf tournaments so didn't manage to do the previous week's puzzle. Judging by the answers, my guess would be that Mr F may have concocted that script during his previous visit to the I of W; - Uffa Fox et al?

I too shall miss Chris Fautley, especially since I always attempt to solve all the clues sprinkled throughout each week's puzzle.

As a species we don't cope with change that well, particularly when it is quite sudden. So, I think this week's gentle introduction to something (and someone) quite different may have been deliberate. No doubt we will adjust to his style but I do hope Sean Newsom provides us with some worthy challenges during his stewardship of the competition

Thank you Chris and your special "friends" for much enjoyment over the years and for pulling my name out of the hat once - albeit a long time ago now! I wish you well for the future!

[Flonska]

Oh . . . nearly forgot . . . One of the bios I read today suggests that Sean Newsom is into skiing in a big way . . . so no real surprise that this week's prize is . . . . a winter break in the Austrian Alps!!

[Etch]

I had wondered what "I have finished, no less, where I started" alluded to in last week's puzzle, but the explanation is given in the article Chis Fautley wrote last year - Ventnor was the first place he wrote about when he started setting the puzzles:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/for-the-1-000th-time-wherewasi-xmr2x29dd