Crossword solving, even at the highest level, is not much of a spectator sport.

For an hour yesterday afternoon the main hall at the University of Gloucestershire’s Park campus fairly dripped with tension as 23 of the sharpest minds in the land battled for The Times National Crossword Championship. However, the audience for the grand final barely looked at the contestants, preferring to have a go at the puzzles themselves.

What they missed was an astonishing performance from Mark Goodliffe, who finished all three puzzles in just under 18 minutes, an average of six minutes each, with a margin of victory every bit as crushing as Usain Bolt’s in this year’s Olympic sprints. The problem was, you couldn’t tell until after the event.

Compared with a football match, or a game of tennis, or even bowls, there are only the faintest visual clues for the earnest armchair fan to cling to when watching a competition.

In yesterday’s contest in Cheltenham, 22 of the finalists were men. All but three were in collared shirts, fourteen were wearing glasses, six had beards and only one was wearing his anorak while competing.

Superficially, crossword solving measures up to the best live contests in just one respect: suspense is guaranteed because, whatever the order in which the solutions are handed in, the final result is never declared until all the answers have been checked.

David Levy, the championship organiser, said: “It’s a very tough competition. If you make one mistake you are out. If you are not fast enough you are out.”

All contenders have to wrestle with the contradictory requirements of breakneck speed and scrupulous accuracy, without knowing when their rivals might submit their own solution.

In a tournament, only a completely correct paper is likely to carry off the trophy. So, gut instinct, flair, technique and the ability to perform under pressure are as much a part of the successful crossword solver’s armoury as they are for any top sportsman.

“You’ve got to decide whether to gamble or play safe,” said Mr Goodliffe, 43. “You just don’t know how everybody else is getting on – and I would rather hang for getting it in too soon than sit there checking my answers and miss my chance.”

Mr Goodliffe won the title once before, in 1999, and this year carries off a cheque for £1,000 as well as the trophy and the glory. A financial controller at the London Stock Exchange – “it has been a very interesting last four weeks” – he missed last year’s competition because his son was born two days before.

This time he found himself seriously bogged down only once, with 18 across on Puzzle 2 (“Black bird of muted colour to alight around start of evening in Alpine area (7,8)”) “I had all the letters that I could possibly get to help me and I still had no idea what this phrase was. The answer is Bernese Oberland – It’s a part of the Swiss Alps that I’ve never heard of before and I hope most people won’t blame me for that.”

He solved most of the clues in a mental blur, relying largely on intuition rather than the pained thought processes that most ordinary mortals are forced to employ.

The starting field of 165 was the best of those who had completed qualifying puzzles in The Times. It included eight previous champions and nine of last year’s finalists and was whittled down in two semi-finals.

All of the finalists finished within 47 minutes, and 19 of them recorded perfect solutions.

Richard Browne, The Times crossword editor, called the performances “absolutely sensational”.

“I had thought these were three quite hard puzzles. One of my compilers was going to make an early bolt for his car in case nobody was able to solve his puzzle and they all came after him. So for someone to solve them in six minutes each is extraordinary.”

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