Ludwig, the Guardian’s genius new crossword setter

New names appear rarely above the grids of the Guardian’s cryptic crosswords, so the arrival of “Ludwig” set off theories in solvers’ minds. Might this be a new name for a long-established setter? A collaboration, perhaps to mark some musical anniversary?At the same time, the in-character face of David Mitchell was appearing more frequently in social feeds and onscreen trails. The character is BBC One’s John “Ludwig” Taylor, a puzzle setter (and investigator of murders) never known to leave a coincidence unexamined. Could this itself be a coincidence?Hot Fuzz’s ‘crossword’. Photograph: Big Talk ProductionsIt could not. Over the past year, when not editing the Guardian’s crosswords, I’ve had a “job” called “puzzle consultant” for the whodunnit series. I presumed this was because of the affectionate ear-bashing administered in these pages to a puzzle in a film from the same production company: Hot Fuzz, which has a prop newspaper with a truly…