Several people grappled with Ged’s puzzler over the Middlesex Test Players’ Test.  Ged was convinced that it must be possible to fit all of those players into a smaller grid than the 19x26 grid devised by test-meister and author Peter Cox. 

Pistol Pete McCabe rose to the challenge.  He writes:

“I thought I'd have a crack at this one, and after a lot of trial and error (mainly the latter) I came up with a 22 by 18 grid which is my competition entry.  Diagram 1 - Pete’s entry (below):

Sometime later I wondered if there was any crossword software on the net; the answer is yes there is, and it came up with 21 by 17 (computer on the attachment). However it would be a hollow victory to win with this, so I don't want it to be my official entry”.  Diagram 2: The computer’s entry (below):

So there it is.  Once again, the computer technically wins.  And I’m sure Peter Cox would not have wanted anything different, being a bit of a propeller-head himself.  Hats off, though, to Pistol Pete, for one-upping Peter Cox’s original effort.  Pass your address details on to me, Pete and that infinitesimally small prize will be winging its way to you at high speed.