Not a great start. Azed 2755 was a competition puzzle. Rather than publish the winning clues and VHCs, the named prize winners appear to have been drawn out of the hat…
Andrew @1: I have emailed our contact at The Observer to point this out and will relay any response in due course. The Azed slip for this month has not yet been published, which doesn’t help.
Early days but very encouraging for The Observer , I know a few writers have retired but many of my favourites still there and the format has hardly changed . I did panic when I could not find a Review section but it was inside a special Sports section which I had put in the recycling box .
Cheers bridgesong. It’s a mess. With the unresolved issue of the ineligible prize-winning clue in 2750, someone – or several people – have taken their eye off the ball.
Andrew@4: I have had an immediate and positive response from our contact at The Observer, apologising for the teething problems regarding access to the puzzles and assuring me that they are being urgently addressed. So far as the strange competition results are concerned, there is apparently to be a phone call today to Jonathan Crowther (Azed) to resolve matters. Watch this space!
Andrew @4
Let’s give them a chance. I imagine it’s all new for some of the people involved and though crosswords are our whole world, they are probably way down the list of priorities for those strange beings who have never even seen a crossword in their lives.
And, as Bridgesong says our contact at The Observer seems amenable. And he or I will impart any new information as soon as is practical.
Can anyone help me out here? 1 and 16d are both clues used last week but the latter doesn’t fit the crossers. What is going on?
I agree with KenMac@6 , much as I love Azed , the future of a great newspaper is far more important . For the moment I am glad that the puzzles are there and the whole double page is in the same style .
Winston @7 , this does need to wait until next week really but the clue you mention has TWO valid solutions .
Well, that answers one question I had: it obviously had to happen, but now there’s no doubt that there’s a new setter doing Everyman. I won’t go into detail so as not to break the rules, but it’s a totally different style.
Winston @7. I originally thought the same as you, but I’ve seen the error of my ways. Funny, though, that we both thought it was The Observer’s mistake.
Roz@8 Thank you, I’ll go back to it. Crispy@10 The missus will doubtless assure you that I’ll never see the error of my ways. Cheers
I am pleased to report that there is now a link on the Observer homepage to the crosswords, although the search function doesn’t yet acknowledge the existence of crosswords: https://observer.co.uk/
Winston@11 I always tell my lesser half that if he learnt from his mistakes he would be the cleverest person in the world .
Winston @7 16d is not exactly the same clue as last week.
I thought I’d had the craziest déjà vu on those two clues! Rather relieved to see they are actually the same as last week’s. Still puzzling over 16d though…
The pdf for Azed seems to be different (and for the better for me). It prints out slightly larger and the numbers in the grid are more legible as a result. I hope it continues.
The failure to announce prizewinners and VHCs for Competition 2755 will at least give Azed the opportunity to announce them at Saturday’s lunch to celebrate 2750 (and a topic of conversation for those attending).
Can I ask, do the keyboard shortcuts work for anyone? Mac/PC? I’m on OSX and nothing works. I tried to message them in the contact box but – despite being logged in – it says (in red), ‘You are considered a bot’! so I don’t know where I can even report it. Sorry if this has been covered but I’m not a regular here and can’t seem to get info anywhere.
Now that the Azed is available in interactive form I’m planning to have another go at some of the plain ones.
John @17: and also explain how an ineligible clue won second prize in said Competition 2750…
No anagram helper for the Everyman? And also no useful bars to indicate word breaks?
Gladys@19, that’s great, I hope that an interactive Azed will encourage new solvers to try the puzzle… and get hooked. I think it’s a good thing.
Gladys@19 , most Azed are Plain and many are very doable and you will get used to the harder ones , join in with the blogs , they are a week later .
The slip for Azed competition puzzle 2755 has now been published. It confirms that the names published in The Observer were not in fact the winners. Azed has however said nothing about the second prize-winning clue for 2750. I shall be listening carefully to his speech on Saturday but I doubt that he will refer to it.
So sad that I shan’t be able to make the trip to Oxford on Saturday. Kind regards to all. I manage a few words in the puzzles but my scrambled brain runs out of steam too soon. I think I can claim to have done ever one of Azed’s wonders up to my episode (on April 1st!) Ciao!
Where is the Azed slip for 2755 available to see ?
Laurence, since the problems with the &lit website happened a few years ago, the Crossword Centre puts the Azed slip up on its website every month here.
Thank you Tim
Horrible website for Everyman in the Observer! Clunky to use, and where’s Anagram Help?
Will have to print it out from now on, or give up doing it, no longer a pleasure to do online.
Not a great start. Azed 2755 was a competition puzzle. Rather than publish the winning clues and VHCs, the named prize winners appear to have been drawn out of the hat…
Andrew @1: I have emailed our contact at The Observer to point this out and will relay any response in due course. The Azed slip for this month has not yet been published, which doesn’t help.
Early days but very encouraging for The Observer , I know a few writers have retired but many of my favourites still there and the format has hardly changed . I did panic when I could not find a Review section but it was inside a special Sports section which I had put in the recycling box .
Cheers bridgesong. It’s a mess. With the unresolved issue of the ineligible prize-winning clue in 2750, someone – or several people – have taken their eye off the ball.
Andrew@4: I have had an immediate and positive response from our contact at The Observer, apologising for the teething problems regarding access to the puzzles and assuring me that they are being urgently addressed. So far as the strange competition results are concerned, there is apparently to be a phone call today to Jonathan Crowther (Azed) to resolve matters. Watch this space!
Andrew @4
Let’s give them a chance. I imagine it’s all new for some of the people involved and though crosswords are our whole world, they are probably way down the list of priorities for those strange beings who have never even seen a crossword in their lives.
And, as Bridgesong says our contact at The Observer seems amenable. And he or I will impart any new information as soon as is practical.
Can anyone help me out here? 1 and 16d are both clues used last week but the latter doesn’t fit the crossers. What is going on?
I agree with KenMac@6 , much as I love Azed , the future of a great newspaper is far more important . For the moment I am glad that the puzzles are there and the whole double page is in the same style .
Winston @7 , this does need to wait until next week really but the clue you mention has TWO valid solutions .
Well, that answers one question I had: it obviously had to happen, but now there’s no doubt that there’s a new setter doing Everyman. I won’t go into detail so as not to break the rules, but it’s a totally different style.
Winston @7. I originally thought the same as you, but I’ve seen the error of my ways. Funny, though, that we both thought it was The Observer’s mistake.
Roz@8 Thank you, I’ll go back to it. Crispy@10 The missus will doubtless assure you that I’ll never see the error of my ways. Cheers
I am pleased to report that there is now a link on the Observer homepage to the crosswords, although the search function doesn’t yet acknowledge the existence of crosswords: https://observer.co.uk/
Winston@11 I always tell my lesser half that if he learnt from his mistakes he would be the cleverest person in the world .
Winston @7 16d is not exactly the same clue as last week.
I thought I’d had the craziest déjà vu on those two clues! Rather relieved to see they are actually the same as last week’s. Still puzzling over 16d though…
The pdf for Azed seems to be different (and for the better for me). It prints out slightly larger and the numbers in the grid are more legible as a result. I hope it continues.
The failure to announce prizewinners and VHCs for Competition 2755 will at least give Azed the opportunity to announce them at Saturday’s lunch to celebrate 2750 (and a topic of conversation for those attending).
Can I ask, do the keyboard shortcuts work for anyone? Mac/PC? I’m on OSX and nothing works. I tried to message them in the contact box but – despite being logged in – it says (in red), ‘You are considered a bot’! so I don’t know where I can even report it. Sorry if this has been covered but I’m not a regular here and can’t seem to get info anywhere.
Now that the Azed is available in interactive form I’m planning to have another go at some of the plain ones.
John @17: and also explain how an ineligible clue won second prize in said Competition 2750…
No anagram helper for the Everyman? And also no useful bars to indicate word breaks?
Gladys@19, that’s great, I hope that an interactive Azed will encourage new solvers to try the puzzle… and get hooked. I think it’s a good thing.
Gladys@19 , most Azed are Plain and many are very doable and you will get used to the harder ones , join in with the blogs , they are a week later .
The slip for Azed competition puzzle 2755 has now been published. It confirms that the names published in The Observer were not in fact the winners. Azed has however said nothing about the second prize-winning clue for 2750. I shall be listening carefully to his speech on Saturday but I doubt that he will refer to it.
So sad that I shan’t be able to make the trip to Oxford on Saturday. Kind regards to all. I manage a few words in the puzzles but my scrambled brain runs out of steam too soon. I think I can claim to have done ever one of Azed’s wonders up to my episode (on April 1st!) Ciao!
Where is the Azed slip for 2755 available to see ?
Laurence, since the problems with the &lit website happened a few years ago, the Crossword Centre puts the Azed slip up on its website every month here.
Thank you Tim
Horrible website for Everyman in the Observer! Clunky to use, and where’s Anagram Help?
Will have to print it out from now on, or give up doing it, no longer a pleasure to do online.