Azed
Encyclopedia
The Azed crossword
appears every Sunday in The Observer
newspaper and has a small but devoted following. Since it first appeared in March 1972, every puzzle has been composed by Jonathan Crowther
who also judges the monthly clue-writing competition. The pseudonym Azed is a reversal of (Fray Diego de) Deza
, a Spanish inquisitor general. This combines the inquisitorial tradition of Torquemada
and Ximenes
(the two previous composers of the "advanced" Observer crossword) with the wordplay element of a British cryptic crossword.
The 2000th Azed puzzle was published on 26 September 2010. The 500th competition puzzle was published on 1 August 2010.
, is an essential aid for most solvers. However, a much lower percentage of unchecked letters – those which appear in only one answer – helps to alleviate this, as does the rigour with which the clues are constructed. Azed is a strict Ximenean, a stickler for grammatical and syntactical soundness in clues. This precision assists both the discovery of the right answer and the solver's confidence that it is correct. Dialect and obsolete words are signalled in the clues and if a particularly obscure answer is not in Chambers, the fact will be noted below the clues. As is common with barred puzzles, when the solution is published it is accompanied by short notes to explain how the more difficult answers were derived from their clues.
At approximately six-weekly intervals, the crossword is a "special". In these there are special rules for solving the clues or entering the answers into the diagram. Popular and recurring specials are "Spoonerisms", "Eightsome Reels","Cherchez La Femme", (all invented by Azed), "Misprints" (devised by Ximenes), "Playfair" and "Printer's Devilry" (both created by Afrit
). Many are composed to mark particular events and often use devices from other standard specials, particularly "Letters Latent".
The competition results are announced three weeks later. There are three prizes, each of a book token and an Azed bookplate, and the names of the prizewinners are published together with their clues. A further twenty or so names appear below – these solvers' clues have been "Very Highly Commended". The First Prize winner is also sent the Azed Instant Victor Verborum Cup to hold for a month before passing it on to the next winner. ("Instant" here means "of this month", as in "the 3rd instant".) For the Christmas Competition, the VHCs also receive prizes.
On non-competition weeks, book tokens are awarded to three solvers selected at random from the submitted grids.
Every year an "Honours List" is published showing the most consistent clue-writers over the course of the year. Each prize-winning clue earns its writer two points and each VHC clue one; clue-writers do not receive points for HC clues. Annual champions are entrusted with a silver salver for the length of their reign, before passing the trophy on to the next winner. Any competitor who has scored four points or more without receiving a prize gets a consolation prize. Currently, the Azed year commences in August and concludes in July.
After the lists come Azed's comments. Azed solvers do not just send in the completed puzzle and a clue. Many also write him letters about the puzzle and his clues, perhaps commending the ingenuity of one clue, asking for an explanation of another or revealing an unexpected sidelight to the competition's clue-word. In his comments, Azed may respond to these or reveal the problems that month's competitors experienced, often using anonymous unsound submissions to illustrate his points. He also gives news of forthcoming cruciverbal events or publications and deaths of long-standing competitors. The slip may be obtained in printed form by subscription or viewed freely at The Guardian
website's crossword page or the & lit. website which contains every Azed slip published.
Described in Chambers Crossword Manual as "Azed's Clue-writing School ", the slip has had a great influence on standards of cluemanship. It also builds a sense of community among Azed solvers. Every 250 puzzles, a celebratory lunch or dinner is held in Oxford, where Azed lives. Some solvers travel considerable distances to attend, even flying in from Scotland and Ireland. The most recent, in September 2010, was to mark Azed No 2000.
Crossword
A crossword is a word puzzle that normally takes the form of a square or rectangular grid of white and shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answers. In languages that are written left-to-right, the answer...
appears every Sunday in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
newspaper and has a small but devoted following. Since it first appeared in March 1972, every puzzle has been composed by Jonathan Crowther
Jonathan Crowther
Jonathan Crowther has for over 35 years composed the Azed cryptic crossword in The Observer Sunday newspaper. He was voted "best British crossword setter" in a poll of crossword setters conducted by The Sunday Times in 1991 and in the same year was chosen as "the crossword compilers' crossword...
who also judges the monthly clue-writing competition. The pseudonym Azed is a reversal of (Fray Diego de) Deza
Diego Deza
Diego Deza was a theologian and inquisitor of Spain. He was one of the more notable figures in the Spanish Inquisition, and succeeded the notorious Tomás de Torquemada to the post of Grand Inquisitor.-Early life:...
, a Spanish inquisitor general. This combines the inquisitorial tradition of Torquemada
Edward Powys Mathers
Edward Powys Mathers was an English translator and poet, and also a pioneer of compiling advanced cryptic crosswords....
and Ximenes
Derrick Somerset Macnutt
Derrick Somerset Macnutt was a British crossword compiler who provided crosswords for The Observer newspaper under the pseudonym Ximenes. He was one of the principal influences on the modern style of cryptic crossword.- Career :...
(the two previous composers of the "advanced" Observer crossword) with the wordplay element of a British cryptic crossword.
The 2000th Azed puzzle was published on 26 September 2010. The 500th competition puzzle was published on 1 August 2010.
The puzzle
The puzzle's barred grid signals a more extensive vocabulary than that of the usual cryptic crossword. Up to half of the answers may be "dictionary words" and its standard reference, The Chambers DictionaryChambers Dictionary
The Chambers Dictionary was first published by W. and R. Chambers as Chambers's English Dictionary in 1872. It was an expanded version of Chambers's Etymological Dictionary of 1867, compiled by James Donald...
, is an essential aid for most solvers. However, a much lower percentage of unchecked letters – those which appear in only one answer – helps to alleviate this, as does the rigour with which the clues are constructed. Azed is a strict Ximenean, a stickler for grammatical and syntactical soundness in clues. This precision assists both the discovery of the right answer and the solver's confidence that it is correct. Dialect and obsolete words are signalled in the clues and if a particularly obscure answer is not in Chambers, the fact will be noted below the clues. As is common with barred puzzles, when the solution is published it is accompanied by short notes to explain how the more difficult answers were derived from their clues.
At approximately six-weekly intervals, the crossword is a "special". In these there are special rules for solving the clues or entering the answers into the diagram. Popular and recurring specials are "Spoonerisms", "Eightsome Reels","Cherchez La Femme", (all invented by Azed), "Misprints" (devised by Ximenes), "Playfair" and "Printer's Devilry" (both created by Afrit
Alistair Ferguson Ritchie
Alistair Ferguson Ritchie was a crossword compiler, who set as Afrit. The son of a post office clerk, he was born in 1890 and brought up in King’s Lynn. He was head boy at King Edward VII Grammar School there and graduated from Queens' College, Cambridge in 1911...
). Many are composed to mark particular events and often use devices from other standard specials, particularly "Letters Latent".
The competition
The clue-writing competitions, first started by Ximenes, take place on the first Sunday of each month and at Christmas. To enter, solvers must complete the grid correctly and submit it with a cryptic clue of their own devising. For a plain puzzle, the clue-word is indicated by a simple definition. If the competition puzzle is a special, finding the clue-word may be part of the puzzle and frequently the submitted clue has to conform to the puzzle's particular conventions.The competition results are announced three weeks later. There are three prizes, each of a book token and an Azed bookplate, and the names of the prizewinners are published together with their clues. A further twenty or so names appear below – these solvers' clues have been "Very Highly Commended". The First Prize winner is also sent the Azed Instant Victor Verborum Cup to hold for a month before passing it on to the next winner. ("Instant" here means "of this month", as in "the 3rd instant".) For the Christmas Competition, the VHCs also receive prizes.
On non-competition weeks, book tokens are awarded to three solvers selected at random from the submitted grids.
Every year an "Honours List" is published showing the most consistent clue-writers over the course of the year. Each prize-winning clue earns its writer two points and each VHC clue one; clue-writers do not receive points for HC clues. Annual champions are entrusted with a silver salver for the length of their reign, before passing the trophy on to the next winner. Any competitor who has scored four points or more without receiving a prize gets a consolation prize. Currently, the Azed year commences in August and concludes in July.
The Azed Slip
The Azed Slip presents all the VHC clues in full and adds the names of about fifty "Highly Commended" solvers whose clues did not quite make it to the VHCs. The VHC clues make entertaining reading and are recommended to competitors who wish to improve their cluemanship.http://www.andlit.org.uk/azed/buildslip_param.php?comp_no=1737 The HC list provides consolation for many who were hoping for a better result.After the lists come Azed's comments. Azed solvers do not just send in the completed puzzle and a clue. Many also write him letters about the puzzle and his clues, perhaps commending the ingenuity of one clue, asking for an explanation of another or revealing an unexpected sidelight to the competition's clue-word. In his comments, Azed may respond to these or reveal the problems that month's competitors experienced, often using anonymous unsound submissions to illustrate his points. He also gives news of forthcoming cruciverbal events or publications and deaths of long-standing competitors. The slip may be obtained in printed form by subscription or viewed freely at The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
website's crossword page or the & lit. website which contains every Azed slip published.
Described in Chambers Crossword Manual as "Azed's Clue-writing School ", the slip has had a great influence on standards of cluemanship. It also builds a sense of community among Azed solvers. Every 250 puzzles, a celebratory lunch or dinner is held in Oxford, where Azed lives. Some solvers travel considerable distances to attend, even flying in from Scotland and Ireland. The most recent, in September 2010, was to mark Azed No 2000.
Well-known Azed competitors
- Joyce Cansfield - first winner of long-running Channel 4 quiz show CountdownCountdown (game show)Countdown is a British game show involving word and number puzzles. It is produced by ITV Studios and broadcast on Channel 4. It is presented by Jeff Stelling, assisted by Rachel Riley, with regular lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be aired on Channel 4, and over sixty-five...
and member of The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
crossword-setting team http://www.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~mark/crosswords/Times_Team.html - Colin DexterColin DexterNorman Colin Dexter, OBE, is an English crime writer, known for his Inspector Morse novels which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as a television series from 1987 to 2000.-Early life and career:...
- author of the Inspector MorseInspector MorseInspector Morse is a fictional character in the eponymous series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, as well as the 33-episode 1987–2000 television adaptation of the same name, in which the character was portrayed by John Thaw. Morse is a senior CID officer with the Thames Valley...
novels and TimesTimesThe Times is a UK daily newspaper, the original English language newspaper titled "Times". Times may also refer to:In newspapers:*The Times , went defunct in 2005*The Times *The Times of Northwest Indiana...
crossword setter - Michael FraynMichael FraynMichael J. Frayn is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce Noises Off and the dramas Copenhagen and Democracy...
- English playwright and novelist - Harvey Freeman - CountdownCountdown (game show)Countdown is a British game show involving word and number puzzles. It is produced by ITV Studios and broadcast on Channel 4. It is presented by Jeff Stelling, assisted by Rachel Riley, with regular lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be aired on Channel 4, and over sixty-five...
Supreme Champion - Don ManleyDon ManleyDon Manley is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others...
- author of Chambers Crossword Manual and regular setter for several British national newspapers including The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International... - Sir Jeremy MorseJeremy MorseSir Jeremy Morse was Chancellor of the University of Bristol between 1989 and 2003 before being succeeded by the Baroness Hale of Richmond and was chairman of Lloyds Bank....
- former Chancellor of the University of BristolUniversity of BristolThe University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
and chairman of Lloyds BankLloyds BankLloyds Bank Plc was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1765 until its merger into Lloyds TSB in 1995; it remains a registered company but is currently dormant. It expanded during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and took over a number of smaller banking companies... - Vikram SethVikram SethVikram Seth is an Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, children's writer, biographer and memoirist.-Early life:Vikram Seth was born on 20 June 1952 to Leila and Prem Seth in Calcutta...
- acclaimed writer and poet - Francis WheenFrancis WheenFrancis James Baird Wheen is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster.-Early life and education:Wheen was born into an army family and educated at two independent schools: Copthorne Preparatory School near Crawley, West Sussex and Harrow School in north west London.-Life and career:Running...
- journalist, broadcaster and writer
Annual Champions
| Year | Champion | Prizes | VHCs | Points | Year | Champion | Prizes | VHCs | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972-73 | N. C. Dexter Colin Dexter Norman Colin Dexter, OBE, is an English crime writer, known for his Inspector Morse novels which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as a television series from 1987 to 2000.-Early life and career:... |
2 | 5 | 9 | 1990-91 | R. J. Hooper | 3 | 5 | 11 | |
| L. F. Leeson | 3 | 3 | 1991-92 | D. F. Manley Don Manley Don Manley is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others... |
5 | 4 | 14 | |||
| R. J. Palmer | 2 | 5 | 1992-93 | D. F. Manley Don Manley Don Manley is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others... |
3 | 5 | 11 | |||
| 1973-74 | C. Allen Baker | 1 | 8 | 10 | 1993-94 | D. F. Manley Don Manley Don Manley is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others... |
2 | 9 | 13 | |
| C. O. Butcher | 2 | 6 | 1994-95 | C. R. Gumbrell | 3 | 7 | 13 | |||
| F. R. Palmer | 0 | 10 | 1995-96 | C. J. Morse Jeremy Morse Sir Jeremy Morse was Chancellor of the University of Bristol between 1989 and 2003 before being succeeded by the Baroness Hale of Richmond and was chairman of Lloyds Bank.... |
4 | 6 | 14 | |||
| 1974-75 | J. R. Kirby | 2 | 6 | 10 | 1996-97 | C. J. Morse Jeremy Morse Sir Jeremy Morse was Chancellor of the University of Bristol between 1989 and 2003 before being succeeded by the Baroness Hale of Richmond and was chairman of Lloyds Bank.... |
2 | 10 | 14 | |
| 1975-76 | F. R. Palmer | 3 | 6 | 12 | 1997-98 | C. R. Gumbrell | 3 | 8 | 14 | |
| 1976-77 | D. F. Manley Don Manley Don Manley is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others... |
2 | 7 | 11 | 1998-99 | C. R. Gumbrell | 2 | 10 | 14 | |
| W. K. M. Slimmings | 1 | 9 | 1999-2000 | C. R. Gumbrell | 3 | 7 | 13 | |||
| 1977-78 | C. J. Jeremy Morse Sir Jeremy Morse was Chancellor of the University of Bristol between 1989 and 2003 before being succeeded by the Baroness Hale of Richmond and was chairman of Lloyds Bank.... & R. S. Morse |
3 | 5 | 11 | 2000-01 | C. R. Gumbrell | 1 | 11 | 13 | |
| 1978-79 | F. R. Palmer | 4 | 4 | 12 | 2001-02 | D. F. Manley Don Manley Don Manley is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others... |
2 | 10 | 14 | |
| 1979-80 | N. C. Dexter Colin Dexter Norman Colin Dexter, OBE, is an English crime writer, known for his Inspector Morse novels which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as a television series from 1987 to 2000.-Early life and career:... |
3 | 5 | 11 | 2002-03 | C. R. Gumbrell | 1 | 11 | 13 | |
| D. F. Manley Don Manley Don Manley is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others... |
0 | 11 | 2003-04 | D. F. Manley Don Manley Don Manley is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others... |
2 | 10 | 14 | |||
| R. J. Palmer | 3 | 5 | 2004-05 | N. C. Dexter Colin Dexter Norman Colin Dexter, OBE, is an English crime writer, known for his Inspector Morse novels which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as a television series from 1987 to 2000.-Early life and career:... |
3 | 5 | 11 | |||
| 1980-81 | C. J. Morse Jeremy Morse Sir Jeremy Morse was Chancellor of the University of Bristol between 1989 and 2003 before being succeeded by the Baroness Hale of Richmond and was chairman of Lloyds Bank.... |
1 | 8 | 10 | D. F. Manley Don Manley Don Manley is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others... |
2 | 7 | |||
| 1981-82 | D. F. Manley Don Manley Don Manley is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others... |
2 | 9 | 13 | T. J. Moorey | 3 | 5 | |||
| 1982-81 | D. F. Manley Don Manley Don Manley is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others... |
1 | 8 | 10 | 2005-06 | M. Barley | 3 | 8 | 14 | |
| 1983-84 | D. F. Manley Don Manley Don Manley is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others... |
1 | 8 | 10 | 2006-07 | M. Barley | 2 | 9 | 13 | |
| 1984-85 | R. J. Hooper | 2 | 8 | 12 | 2007-08 | R. J. Heald | 4 | 8 | 16 | |
| 1985-86 | R. J. Hooper | 2 | 9 | 13 | T. J. Moorey | 4 | 8 | |||
| 1986-87 | E. J. Burge | 2 | 6 | 10 | 2008-09 | J. C. Leyland | 4 | 6 | 14 | |
| N. C. Dexter Colin Dexter Norman Colin Dexter, OBE, is an English crime writer, known for his Inspector Morse novels which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as a television series from 1987 to 2000.-Early life and career:... |
2 | 6 | 2009-2010 | J. C. Leyland | 3 | 8 | 14 | |||
| 1987-88 | M. Barley | 2 | 6 | 10 | D. F. Manley Don Manley Don Manley is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others... |
2 | 10 | |||
| 1988-89 | D. F. Manley Don Manley Don Manley is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others... |
2 | 10 | 14 | 2010-2011 | R. J. Heald | 5 | 7 | 17 | |
| 1989-90 | F. R. Palmer | 2 | 7 | 11 |