First, Greg Karber’s murder-mystery puzzles went viral - now they are a publishing sensation. The failed scriptwriter from Los Angeles talks to Robert Crampton. I would never presume to call myself anything so grand as the Times quizmaster.
That title belongs to the one and only Olav Bjortomt, on whose daily general knowledge workout I reliably register a distressingly average nine out of fifteen. Nor am I especially adept at crosswords, acrostics or other assorted puzzles. Although I do Codeword pretty swiftly, my wife has repeatedly tried to explain Train Tracks without any luck.
Like Greg Karber, 37, currently sitting across the table from me during his UK promotional tour, the maestro behind Murdle , the internet and publishing sensation, I was, however, a more than decent childhood chess player. And for several years I compiled (or rather, my wife compiled, and I hosted) a pub quiz (with fish and chips included on the ticket) at the Cheltenham Literature Festival. Also, I was an early adopter and advocate of Sporcle, the online trivia site, which I used to enjoy before galloping addiction forced a rethink.
So here we are. Greg Karber’s brain-teaser credentials are rather more impressive. Murdle is essentially a logic puzzle dressed up as a murder mystery, with clues enabling the player to establish the perpetrator, the weapon and the location.
It’s a lot like a 21st-century version of Cluedo, or Clue as it’s called in America, but without the colonels and profess.
