Azed Clue Writing Competition – Update
The Slip for Azed comp 2,733 has been published, and is available at:
http://www.crossword.org.uk/Azed2773.pdf
This is the last, and surely the most poignant, Slip of them all, since Azed communicates in it his decision to step down from his duties in respect of the clue-writing competition and reflects on his 54-year tenure. His wife, Ali, adds some further thoughts.
His is an extraordinary achievement, which I can say with complete confidence will never be matched (incidentally, I reckon he must have judged around a quarter of a million clues). My sincere thanks to him, not least for the cruciverbal wisdom that has been packed into the Slips over the years – as readers will know, I frequently refer back to them when discussing the art of clue writing.
We look forward to continuing to receive our monthly Azed puzzles for as long as he wishes to produce them.
The final Azed Competition Annual Honours List is also published:
I believe Azed’s setting pseudonym for the Listener was Gong: wouldn’t it be fitting were he to be awarded one? Perhaps someone already has this in hand?
I could not agree more with your sentiments. The man, in my opinion, is the greatest crossword setter that I have ever encountered. The weekly AZED challenge has been a feature of my life for many, many years now, and his competition puzzles (especially the Christmas specials) have happily occupied my Sundays (and sometimes Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, etc.) to a degree that has my wife amusedly bewildered. His AZED slips have been fair, astute and unfailingly polite, and his competitions have engendered many brilliant clues from entrants. A lovely farewell (a sort of farewell) from him and his wife in the latest slip. Many years of much happiness to them both.