Image caption Mr Dick worked with the newspaper to place the message to his girlfriend 
 
 A woman has accepted an unusual marriage offer - after her boyfriend proposed using the The Times newspaper's cryptic crossword. 
 
 Matthew Dick, from London, arranged for puzzle editor Richard Rogan to place the message to his girlfriend Delyth Hughes inside Tuesday's cryptic teaser. 
 
 It is thought to be the first proposal since the crossword first appeared in the paper 85 years ago. 
 
 Ms Hughes, who is from Wales, said she was "dumbfounded" by the gesture. 
 
 The couple were celebrating Ms Hughes' birthday in Cornwall when Mr Dick presented her with the proposal. 
 
 The clues included "Pretty Welsh girl widely thought not to be all there" with the six-letter answer "Delyth", and "'Will you marry me', say, that's forward also rude!", to which the eight-letter answer was "proposal". 
 
 'Hands were shaking' 
 
 Another clue read: "Draw up a set of biblical books, ending in Matthew", while other answers to clues included "birthday" and "wishes". 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Richard Rogan explains how the clues were set 
 
 Mr Dick, 38, said: "I underlined the words 'will you marry me' which appeared in the clue, and the answer was proposal. My hands were shaking and I put my hands in my pocket to get the ring to propose. 
 
 The crossword enthusiast said his girlfriend "looked surprised" and did not say anything for thirty seconds before jokingly saying "No", followed by "Yes". 
 
 He said Ms Hughes, 39, "thought it was hilarious" but he "thought it was less hilarious". 
 
 She described the crossword proposal as a "typical" gesture for Mr Dick, who she described as "a smart-arse at the best of times". 
 
 "I was getting a bit teary and emotional, even if I did joke that I wouldn't marry him. I was dumbfounded that he'd gone to such lengths." 
 
 Mr Rogan, who lives in Cheltenham, was contacted by Mr Dick on Twitter. 
 
 He said he believed it was the first time The Times had included a proposal in one of its puzzles. 
 
 "We won't be doing it again," he added. ||||| LONDON (AP) — It's a case of two down: the aisle. 
 
 A combo taken on Wednesday June 17, 2015 showing some of the British national newspapers of Tuesday June 16 and featuring at centre the back page of The Times showing it's daily crossword puzzle. A crossword-loving... (Associated Press) 
 
 A crossword-loving British lawyer hid a marriage proposal in The Times newspaper's daily puzzle. Matthew Dick thought of the cryptic way of popping the question to girlfriend Delyth Hughes and persuaded the newspaper to agree. 
 
 Tuesday's Times crossword opened with one across: "Pretty Welsh girl widely thought not to be all there." The answer: Delyth. 
 
 Other clues included "'Will you marry me,' say, that's forward also rude." The answer was proposal. 
 
 Dick, 38, told Wednesday's edition of the newspaper that he showed Hughes the crossword at breakfast, with some key words underlined, then "reached into my pocket to reveal the ring." 
 
 "She looked so surprised and didn't say anything for about 30 seconds, before then saying 'No', which she thought was hilarious," he said. "But she did then say 'Yes' and I had to tell her this was the real Times crossword, not something I had printed out myself." 
 
 Hughes says she was "dumbfounded that he'd gone to such lengths." 
 
 "It was also bloody typical, as he's a smart-arse at the best of times," she said. "I've heard all the engagement stories but this one trumps them all. It's so special and such a geeky way of doing it." 
 
 Times crossword editor Richard Rogan said he believed this was the first time the newspaper had included a proposal in a puzzle. He said it was "a one-off" that wouldn't be repeated.
– A British lawyer with a penchant for puzzles decided to pop the question to his girlfriend in what she calls an incredibly "geeky way": in the local paper's crossword. Per the BBC, Matthew Dick contacted the British Times' puzzle editor via Twitter and arranged for yesterday's crossword to spell out his marriage proposal to Delyth Hughes through a series of underlined, personalized clues, including "Pretty Welsh girl widely thought not to be all there" (six-letter answer: Delyth) and "'Will you marry me,' say, that's formal also rude" (answer: proposal). As Hughes pondered the puzzle, Dick took the engagement ring out of his pocket. "She looked so surprised and didn't say anything for about 30 seconds, before then saying 'no,' which she thought was hilarious," he tells the Times, per the AP. Hughes, who did eventually say yes, says she was "dumbfounded that he'd gone to such lengths," adding, "It was also bloody typical, as he's a smart-arse at the best of times. … It's so special and such a geeky way of doing it." (This crossword puzzle possibly contained a code to carry out a hit on Hugo Chavez's brother.)