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 28,004 by Brummie

Sat December 21, 2019 at 12:03 am by bridgesong

A puzzle with a theme so obvious I shall be astonished if anyone claims to have missed it.

AZED 2,475

Sun November 24, 2019 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

An anagrams special from Azed this week.

Guardian Prize 27,980 by Philistine

Sat November 23, 2019 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

An interesting mixture of easy and difficult clues for this week’s prize puzzle.

Guardian Prize 27,956 by Vlad

Sat October 26, 2019 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A relatively rare, but welcome, appearance by Vlad in the prize slot this week.

AZED 2,469

Sun October 13, 2019 at 11:44 amSun October 13, 2019 at 12:01 am by bridgesong

A Spoonerisms puzzle for this month’s competition: the first for over a year

Guardian Prize 27,932 by Brendan

Sat September 28, 2019 at 8:25 amSat September 28, 2019 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A pleasure to see Brendan’s name in the Prize puzzle slot again, some four months after the last occasion.

AZED 2,466

Sun September 22, 2019 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A puzzle with some contemporary political, sporting and cultural references this week, but I was troubled a little by the plural of certain fish(es).

AZED 2,463

Sun September 1, 2019 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

An alphabetical jigsaw for this Bank Holiday weekend puzzle, but this time Azed has not provided word lengths.

Guardian Prize No 27,908 by Maskarade

Sat August 31, 2019 at 1:30 pmSat August 31, 2019 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

This was a Bank Holiday special from Maskarade with two grids and some misleading instructions.

Guardian Genius No 193 by Jack

Sun August 4, 2019 at 12:03 am by bridgesong

I wasn’t familiar with Jack as a setter, but I have encountered him as Serpent in the Inquisitor series.

Guardian Prize 27,884 by Philistine

Sat August 3, 2019 at 9:30 amSat August 3, 2019 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

Another appearance by Philistine in the prize slot and as it’s exactly 12 weeks since his last appearance it falls to me to blog it again (and it’s the third time this year).

AZED 2,457

Sun July 21, 2019 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A plain puzzle with an unusual grid, a central horizontal line cutting it nearly in half.

Guardian Prize 27,860 by Shed

Sat July 6, 2019 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

I can’t remember when I last tackled a puzzle by Shed, as he doesn’t feature in the Prize slot very often so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but there were no nasty surprises and it was all over pretty quickly (too quickly for some, no doubt).

AZED 2,451

Sun June 9, 2019 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A 13 x 11 grid for this month’s Prize Puzzle from Azed.

Guardian Prize 27,836 by Philistine

Sat June 8, 2019 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A characteristically witty and eclectic puzzle from Philistine for the prize slot this week. If there was a theme, I missed it.