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 27,477 by Paul

Sat April 14, 2018 at 5:57 amSat April 14, 2018 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A classic Paul puzzle with misleading definitions and intricate wordplay, along with one typical lavatorial reference.

Guardian Prize 27,453 by Paul

Sat March 17, 2018 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A puzzle with some brilliance but with one answer which is not to be found in most dictionaries.

AZED 2,385

Sun March 4, 2018 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A 13 x 11 grid for this week’s puzzle, which was carelessly printed in the paper as an 11 x 11 grid, with the two right hand columns omitted. Fortunately, the pdf was correct.

Guardian Prize 27,429 by Paul

Sat February 17, 2018 at 8:59 amSat February 17, 2018 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A typically witty and eclectic puzzle from Paul.

Genius No 175 Fake News by Arachne

Sun February 4, 2018 at 9:02 amSun February 4, 2018 at 12:10 am by bridgesong

A characteristically devious and topical puzzle for this month’s Genius competition.

AZED No 2379

Sun January 21, 2018 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A reasonably straightforward puzzle to solve: but blogging it proved much more challenging.

Guardian Prize 27,405 by Paul

Sat January 20, 2018 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

Lots of clever wordplay to admire in this week’s prize puzzle, but we took issue with a couple of the definitions.

Guardian Prize 27,382 by Paul

Sat December 23, 2017 at 7:14 amSat December 23, 2017 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A puzzle with a political theme for my last blog of the year.

AZED 2,373

Sun December 10, 2017 at 9:36 amSun December 10, 2017 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A plain puzzle with a 13 x 11 grid for this month’s competiton. No doubt Azed will delight us with something more complex for the Christmas special later this month.

Guardian Prize 27,358 by Puck

Sat November 25, 2017 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A characteristically tricky and witty puzzle from Puck this week, although I’m not sure I’ve spotted every piece of misdirection.

AZED 2,367

Sun October 29, 2017 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A relatively straightforward plain puzzle from Azed this week.

Guardian Prize 27,334 by Philistine

Sat October 28, 2017 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A classically-themed puzzle from Philistine this week.

Guardian Prize 27,310 by Pasquale

Sat September 30, 2017 at 12:01 am by bridgesong

A themed puzzle from Pasquale at an appropriate time of year.

Azed No 2361

Sun September 17, 2017 at 9:17 amSun September 17, 2017 at 8:17 am by bridgesong

With apologies for the delay, here is last week’s plain puzzle.

Guardian Bank Holiday Special by Maskarade

Sat September 2, 2017 at 12:05 am by bridgesong

A themed double alphabetical jigsaw with the added complication of an error in the enumeration meant that this Bank Holiday Special presented a tougher than expected challenge. The special instructions indicated that one of each pair was of a kind, not further defined.