bridgesong

Born in 1947, I remember as a child tackling the Skeleton in my father’s Sunday Express before moving on to The Times at school with a classmate. For 20 years or so after leaving school I had no time for crosswords but started again in the 1980s, teaching myself to do Azed (with help from Don Manley’s Crossword Manual). Now retired after a career as a lawyer which culminated in appointment as a District Judge, I do the Guardian every Saturday, usually with my friend and neighbour Timon (who introduced me to fifteensquared). I also enter the Azed monthly competitions but have never done better than the very occasional VHC. More recently I have become a subscriber to the Magpie magazine and submit entries monthly, without yet winning a pen. My pseudonym comes from two of my other leisure interests, bridge and singing.

Guardian Prize No 28,362 by Paul

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An alphabetical jigsaw, said by Paul to be inspired by his hero, John Graham (Araucaria) who would have celebrated his hundredth birthday in the next couple of weeks, but sadly died a few years ago now.

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Azed No. 2,535 Plain

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An uncontroversial (I think) plain Azed this week. There are a couple of hard to classify clues at 16 and 29 and (particularly) 30 across, but otherwise the usual mix of common and … Read more >>

Azed No 2,529

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A puzzle with a distinct French character this week. Two French phrases and one word of French extraction as well as some Scottish terms in a generous grid with no fewer than four … Read more >>

Azed No. 2,523 Plain

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A very straightforward plain Azed this week, after the previous week’s Carte Blanche. A puzzle whose references span from Greek mythology to Radio 4. As always, I learned something from my explorations into … Read more >>

Guardian Prize 28,267 by Paul

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A biscuit-themed puzzle from Paul this week. In his email to subscribers, Paul mentioned that this puzzle was inspired by the actions of a three-year old – “crumbs, that was embarrassing”: presumably one … Read more >>