You don’t want to be satisfied with a second-rate clue,” says Crowther. “If it doesn’t please me, I’ll scrap it.” Azed is a crossword which appears every Sunday in The Observer newspaper. Since it first appeared in March 1972, every puzzle has been composed by Jonathan Crowther who also judges the monthly clue-writing competition. [1] The pseudonym Azed is a reversal of (Fray Diego de) Deza, a Spanish inquisitor general. This combines the inquisitorial tradition of Torquemada and Ximenes (the two previous composers of the "advanced" Observer crossword) with the wordplay element of a British cryptic crossword. The Azed Slip presents all the VHC clues in full and adds the names of about fifty "Highly Commended" solvers whose clues did not quite make it to the VHCs. [1]. After the lists come Azed's comments, in which he may respond to reader comments, or reveal the problems that month's competitors experienced, often using anonymous unsound submissions to illustrate his points. [8] He also gives news of forthcoming cruciverbal events or publications, and deaths of long-standing competitors. Described in Chambers Crossword Manual as "Azed's Clue-writing School ", the slip has had a great influence on standards of cluemanship. [9] Annual champions [ edit ] Perhaps one aspect of the cryptic crossword that we may come to appreciate as we move deeper into the digital age is that it is, as Crowther puts it, “more or less computer-proof”. Whereas computers can beat any human being at chess, no computer can set or solve a decent cryptic crossword.

When Ximenes died,” recalls Crowther, “I sent in an ‘in memoriam’ puzzle in the shape of a large ‘X’. The crossword editor said, ‘We’d like to print your puzzle and, by the way, would you like to take on the job?” I was absolutely astonished and so flattered that I said ‘yes’ straight away without thinking about it.” Crowther says that people send him their research on trying to program computers to write cryptic clues. “Without exception, they are pretty useless. There’s no real-world knowledge there. No humour and I think you have to have a sense of humour, otherwise it would be dreary.” Wheen has been a guest speaker at one of the celebratory lunches that are held, usually at an Oxford college, every 250 puzzles, and which draw about 150 people. To prepare, he met up with a hardcore group of Azed-solvers, called the Groundlings, who meet regularly to discuss the crossword. These are the kinds of people who not only complete the formidable puzzles, but also enter Crowther’s clue-writing competitions. Some of them are themselves setters of other newspaper’s crosswords.Macnutt’s own death – only mortality appears to stop crossword compilers – created another vacancy. It might be thought that crossword compiling is an obscure line of work. But the extraordinary recent success of Wordle shows that there is a widespread appetite for word puzzles. If that online test is at the easy end of the spectrum, at the other end is the mysterious and rather daunting world of cryptic crosswords. Even the names of the setters are intimidating.

Crowther himself is characteristically modest about the achievement, but it’s hard to make a comparison for that kind of consistency, because so few exist. After all, Melvyn Bragg gets a two-month summer break on In Our Time, while Polly Toynbee is from time to time “away”. The clue-writing competitions, first started by Ximenes, take place on the first Sunday of each month and at Christmas. [5] To enter, solvers must complete the grid correctly and submit it with a cryptic clue of their own devising. For a plain puzzle, the clue-word is indicated by a simple definition. If the competition puzzle is a special, finding the clue-word may be part of the puzzle and frequently the submitted clue has to conform to the puzzle's particular conventions. [6] Azed Prize Bookplate (Reg Boulton design)Crowther met him at the Oxford literary festival some years ago, where Frayn was giving a talk. When Crowther introduced himself as Frayn was signing books, the author jumped to his feet, beaming with a big smile, and declared that Crowther was not at all how he had imagined him. Then turning to his wife and fellow author Claire Tomalin, he said: “Darling, this is the chap who you say ruins your Sundays.”

According to John Finnemore, the comedian and crossword compiler (he sets the Times Listener crossword under the pseudonym “Emu”), Crowther has been the crowning glory of a 96-year triumvirate of Observer crossword setters. There is an anxious and ongoing debate in crossword circles about how to attract women and younger people, although it does not as yet appear to have resulted in any great uptake from those constituencies.

That’s not a word that anyone would use to describe Crowther’s work. Wheen speaks of “the consistent high standards of wit and elegance running through the entire oeuvre”, of a voice so distinctive that he feels he’s come to know the man through his clue-writing. Crowther himself demurs when I ask him what his own favourite is from the many thousands of clues he’s compiled down the years, preferring instead to praise the “staggering brilliance” of some of his readers in the competitions he runs. Don Manley (2006) Chambers Crossword Manual (4th Ed) p. 208-216, "Azed's Clue-writing School", Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, ISBN 978-0-550-10220-1, ISBN 0-550-10220-5