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 Puzzle 26017 by Pasquale

Sat August 10, 2013 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

It was with some trepidation that I approached this puzzle. I don’t always find Pasquale’s puzzles that easy to solve, and what’s more I know that the Don reads blogs on this site. … Read more >>

Guardian Genius No 121 by Crucible

Sun August 4, 2013 at 1:01 am by bridgesong

This puzzle by Crucible used a device also to be found in the previous puzzle in this series by this setter, No 113 in November last year. A number of clues (19 in … Read more >>

Azed No 2146

Sun July 28, 2013 at 12:01 am by bridgesong

Some considerable subtlety on display this week, some of which may have eluded me. There are of course all the usual Azed features of obscure words, and ingenious clues, this week displayed in … Read more >>

Guardian Prize Puzzle No 25,993 by Crucible

Sat July 13, 2013 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

This is the first outing for Crucible in the prize slot for some while now, although this setter’s puzzles often feature in the Genius series. The feature of this puzzle was the omission … Read more >>

Azed No 2140

Sun June 16, 2013 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A reasonably straightforward Azed this week, if perhaps a little harder than average. I have a couple of queries which will no doubt be resolved swiftly by the usual suspects. Across 1 FIG … Read more >>

Guardian Prize No 25,969 by Araucaria

Sat June 15, 2013 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

I found this to be a distinctly challenging puzzle, although I didn’t help myself by a stupid error which delayed my solving of 26 across, the key to the theme. There seemed to … Read more >>

Azed No 2134

Sun May 5, 2013 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

The usual mix of obscure words and Ximenean clues, although I have a couple of minor queries which I’m sure others can resolve. A crossword notable for three different ways of cluing the … Read more >>

Guardian Prize Puzzle No 25,921 by Araucaria

Sat April 20, 2013 at 7:14 amSat April 20, 2013 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

There are two mini=themes in this puzzle, brought together at 20,21. One is the Shakespearean quotation, and the other is the centenary of the crossword. I solved this one on the plane to … Read more >>

Azed No 2128

Sun March 24, 2013 at 6:23 amSun March 24, 2013 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A reasonably straightforward plain puzzle this week, but I do have a couple of quibbles about the cluing, and one where I may not have understood the wordplay at all, so suggestions are … Read more >>

Guardian Prize Crossword No 25,897 by Enigmatist

Sat March 23, 2013 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

As might be expected from a puzzle set by Enigmatist , this proved to be a challenge and although I did eventually manage to solve it on the day of publication, it took … Read more >>

Guardian Prize No 25,873 by Araucaria

Sat February 23, 2013 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

Another wide-ranging puzzle from Araucaria, with a mini-theme of early British kings, and references to Armstrong-Siddeley and Michael Winner, to name but two. As always, the surfaces are immaculate, but I have noted … Read more >>

Azed No 2122

Sun February 10, 2013 at 9:32 amSun February 10, 2013 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

Another relatively easy puzzle by Azed standards, I thought, although it took me some time to parse all the answers. Two Hebrew terms (both in Chambers) and two French (also in Chambers) along … Read more >>

Guardian Genius No 115 by Puck

Sun February 3, 2013 at 7:56 amSun February 3, 2013 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

The preamble read as follows: Ten solutions can also be 30, initially. Any secondary definition or wordplay in their clues leads to the solution as it might appear if it were, indeed, 30 of any 26 12 before 22 down 22 across. … Read more >>

Guardian Prize Puzzle No 25,849 by Araucaria

Sat January 26, 2013 at 8:36 amSat January 26, 2013 at 12:02 am by bridgesong

It’s an even greater pleasure than usual to blog an Araucaria puzzle on the day the Guardian published an interview with him. Despite his recent revelation, there is no sign of any decline … Read more >>

Azed No 2116 Christmas Devilry

Sun January 6, 2013 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

This year Azed’s Christmas puzzle combined an old favourite (although not of all solvers), Printer’s Devilry, for the across clues, with something entirely new for the down clues. These were normal clues made … Read more >>