Hubert Phillips is still remembered by people in the UK who heard him many years ago on radio quizzes. He was born in 1891, took a first class degree in History at Oxford, served in the army throughout the First World War, taught Economics at Bristol University and was Director of Extra-Mural Studies, Secretary to the Liberal Industrial Enquiry and secretary and advisor to the Liberal Parliamentary Party. He was well known by several pseudonyms, including ‘Dogberry’ of the News Chronicle’s magazine page, and ‘Caliban’ of the New Statesman, and he was compiler of thousands of mathematical and inferential puzzles as well as of crosswords, quizzes and ciphers. He was also a prolific writer of epigrams, parodies and satirical verse. Among his many publications are Caliban’s Problem Book, The Complete Book of Card Games, the Penguin Hoyle, Brush Up Your Wits and My Best Puzzles in Mathematics. He also published over a hundred crime-problem stories and a novel, Charteris Royal. He was an accomplished player of contract bridge, captaining England in 1937 and 1938.
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