There is a family (H-k) of graphs such that H-k has order (1 + o(1))(root 2/e)k2(k/2) but has no clique or stable set of order Ic. This result of Spencer provides the best known lower bound for the diagonal Ramsey numbers R(k, k). Here we see that the graphs H-k can be taken to be regular, self-complementary, and pseudo-random. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.