Azed's guide to the crossword community and his cruciverbal philosophy.

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Product Description

This book offers a unique insight into the cryptic crossword setting world and the secrets of the setters revealed with one of the UK's most respected crossword setters. Jonathan Crowther is one of the UK's best-known and most respected cryptic crossword setters, setting under the pseudonym Azed in the Observer for over 30 years. "Collins A-Z of Crosswords" combines Jonathan Crowther's own take on the world of cryptic crosswords, with what's allowed - and what really shouldn't be - in clue setting. With reviews of the work of the major clue-setters working today; and with puzzles chosen to illustrate each setter's quirks and idiosyncrasies, this is the ideal book for all cryptic crossword enthusiasts.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #217989 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 344 pages

Review
'Jonathan Crowther's magisterial book sets out the principles of setting and unmasks our principal setters.' Colin Dexter

About the Author
Jonathan Crowther was born in Liverpool in 1942, and was educated at Rugby School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge where he read classics. He joined Oxford University Press in 1964 and worked for OUP in India, London, and Oxford for 35 years, latterly as an EFL lexicographer, before retiring in 2000. Jonathan 'discovered' XIMENES, the father of cryptic crosswords, while still at Rugby and became an instant convert. After leaving university he started submitting occasional puzzles to The Listener under the pseudonym Gong, a family nickname, and competed in Ximenes competitions until taking over from him in the Observer after his death in 1971. Azed No. 1 first appeared in the Observer in March 1972.

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Customer Reviews

Really an A-Z of crossword _setters_
If you've been solving crosswords for ages and want to check whether your mental image of Araucaria, Enigmatist, or some of the Times setters is anywhere near the truth, this is the book for you. About half the pages are a set of biographies (about 85 of them), including most of the setters for the broadsheet newspaper cryptic puzzles, and a selection of setters for barred-grid puzzles like the Listener. There are plenty of good stories and gentle jokes, including a reputed spoof biography.

You also get about 20 pages of intoductory material from Azed, about two-thirds of which is a quick summary of his own views about clue-writing.

At the end of the book, there are puzzles representing half of the setters covered. These are split about 50/50 between daily paper style puzzles and more difficult ones. The latter have notes with their solutions.

The nuts and bolts side is very sound - good binding and paper ensure that this book will last.