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.

Azed 2051

Sun September 25, 2011 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

An exceptionally tough Azed this week, with a very high proportion of unfamiliar and downright obscure words. A knowledge of French was required for a couple of clues as well. I confess to … Read more >>

Guardian Prize Puzzle No 25418, by Paul

Sat September 10, 2011 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

After last week’s stinker of a double puzzle from Araucaria, this was much easier, all the more so once the theme had been guessed (which didn’t take long). All the “John’s” references were … Read more >>

Azed 2045 Plain Competition puzzle

Sun August 14, 2011 at 8:10 amSun August 14, 2011 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

I found this a little harder than usual for an Azed, although on reflection it is just the unfamiliarity of many of the words that creates the difficulty. As always, there are no … Read more >>

Guardian Prize Puzzle No 25,394 by Paul

Sun August 14, 2011 at 7:48 amSat August 13, 2011 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

This was the hardest prize puzzle that I can remember for quite some time, made even harder by the schoolboy blunder at 20 down. I see that the web version now has a … Read more >>

Guardian Genius No 97 by Tramp

Mon August 1, 2011 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

It was my privilege to blog Tramp’s first published puzzle (I think) which appeared in this series six months ago (Genius 91). Since then he has published non-prize cryptics in the Guardian (and … Read more >>

Guardian Prize Puzzle No 25,376 by Araucaria

Sat July 23, 2011 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

With help from my friend Timon, this took us less than an hour to complete, although getting started took me longer than usual. No particular theme (as far as I can see) but the … Read more >>

Azed No 2039

Sun July 3, 2011 at 12:22 am by bridgesong

I found this a fairly tough challenge, with even more unfamiliar words than usual. I have on several occasions simply quoted the definition from Chambers without any additional comment. It was a … Read more >>

Guardian Prize Puzzle No 25,358 by Araucaria

Sat July 2, 2011 at 12:10 am by bridgesong

Another entertaining outing from the Master, although I do take exception to a couple of his definitions. I took this puzzle with me to the Sloggers and Betters meeting in Birmingham last Saturday, … Read more >>

Guardian Prize Puzzle No 25340 by Puck

Sat June 11, 2011 at 7:25 amSat June 11, 2011 at 12:09 am by bridgesong

Given the structure of the grid I was expecting to find a nina in the letters that form the circumference of the puzzle but it soon became apparent that the final destination referred … Read more >>

Azed 2033 “Give and take”

Sun May 22, 2011 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

I can’t remember Azed using this particular combination of devices before, although he may have done so under a different name. So far as the across clues are concerned, it is known as … Read more >>

Guardian Prize No 25322 by Araucaria

Sat May 21, 2011 at 7:42 amSat May 21, 2011 at 12:18 am by bridgesong

A delight as ever to tackle another offering from the Master, and this time there is only one clue which, to my mind, offends Ximenean principles (12 across). A couple of other clues … Read more >>

Guardian Easter Prize No 25304 / Araucaria

Sun May 1, 2011 at 2:31 pmSat April 30, 2011 at 12:09 am by bridgesong

I solved most of this puzzle on the train from London to Lyon, and found it an excellent way of making a long journey shorter. Unfortunately there was no online version available so … Read more >>

Azed 2027

Sun April 10, 2011 at 12:39 am by bridgesong

After a few minutes in which simply nothing occurred to me, the puzzle suddenly yielded and I was able to complete it reasonably rapidly, although only with the help of Chambers. As always, … Read more >>

Guardian Prize No 25,286 by Araucaria

Sat April 9, 2011 at 12:01 am by bridgesong

Solving time: about 40 minutes (I expect my predecessor Rightback completed it in single figures!). There’s been some comment on the site in the week that this puzzle appeared about how some weekday … Read more >>

Guardian Prize No 25268 by Pasquale

Sat March 19, 2011 at 4:01 pmSat March 19, 2011 at 12:02 am by bridgesong

Solving time: about two hours, but we were watching the United v Arsenal game at the time. I acknowledge the substantial contribution from my friend and neighbour Timon, but the blog (and any … Read more >>