AZED CROSSWORD 2595

FIFTY YEARS

1.  J. C. Leyland: Showing no end of invention, smart X’s successor held in reverence with ‘special’ for golden occasion ((n)ifty + Y in fear + s; X = Ximenes).

2.  R. J. Heald: Number passed by smart successor to X, held in awe by solvers primarily ((n)ifty Y in fear + s, & lit.).

3.  J. R. Tozer: As long as Azed’s been setting, what complete my Sunday are stiff puzzles (anag. incl. y, y).

VHC

M. Barley: X’s successor’s devilish era observed in Sunday’s latest stiff ‘special’ (Y + anag. in anag. incl. y, & lit.).

T. C. Borland: Notable innings, a half-century from Yorkshire’s opener, thwarting fiery fast bowling (y in anag.).

A. Brash: I’ll join in feast for X’s successor, twice arranged – no ordinary tenure, his! (anag. incl. Y, Y less o).

C. J. Brougham: Lustre tenfold gained by ultimate in tricky yet fair puzzling with signal frequency (anag. incl. y and SF; lustre²).

N. Connaughton (Ireland): X’s successor’s truly arresting ‘annual return’ with fine independent newspaper (f I FT  + Y + AR in yes, & lit.).

E. Dawid: Azed’s span – works of art? FYI yes – nothing less (anag. less 0).

W. Drever: Azed’s latest milestone? Signify half-century exuberantly with special lunching out (anag. less anag.).

Dr I. S. Fletcher: Spanning run, one ends in worthy anniversary puzzle, stiff to crack (r in anag. incl. a, y, y, e, & lit.).

H. Freeman: What’d stay Fiery Fred’s opening burst? A ‘composed’ half-century (anag. incl. f; ref. F. S. (Freddie) Trueman).

G. I. L. Grafton: Yes, I try and fathom Azed’s head, following puzzles he’s set so long (anag. incl. f, A, f).

J. Hood: Fine, stylish, needing no introduction – and certainly entertaining unlimited fare for half a century (f (n)ifty + (f)ar(e) in yes).

M. Lloyd-Jones: Jubilate for this fellow – and fair yet deceptive special, cracked by the end of Sunday (F + y in anag. + s).

D. F. Manley: We’ll have festival for ye, X’s successor, recollecting —— with love (comp. anag. incl. Y, & lit.).

W. Ransome: Looking back from the beginnings, sometimes recondite, always engaging, yes you triggered fun, providing golden time (first letters + if (all rev.)).

Dr S. J. Shaw: Unorthodox openers in youthful Yorkshire eleven’s first innings race to another strikingly fast half-century (anag. of first letters).

I. Simpson: Fine half-century is hit, fancy lunch being held with successor to X centre stage, such is his milestone (f + Y in anag. less anag.; held = restrained).

R. C. Teuton: Extraordinary term of his forte, the ultimate in trickery, yet fair (anag. incl. s, f, y, & lit.).

J. Vincent & Ms R. Porter: Half a century? FYI yr feat’s staggering! (anag.).

L. Ward (USA): Golden period in cryptic art starts in seventy-two, impresses, fittingly extends for yonks and yonks (anag. incl. first letters).

A. J. Wardrop: Fast, fiery batting with Crawley finally making a half-century (anag. incl. y; ref. Zak C.).

T. West-Taylor: Signify half-century for this setter lavishly lunching out? (anag. less anag., & lit.).

HC

T. Anderson, D. Appleton, D. K. Arnott, D. & N. Aspland, M. J. Barker, Mrs S. Brown, Dr J. Burscough, J. A. Butler, D. Carter, A. G. Chamberlain, C. A. Clarke, M. Coates, A. Gerrard, J. Grimes, A. H. Harker, M. Jordan, P. W. Marlow, L. F. Marzillier (USA), K. Milan, T. J. Moorey, T. D. Nicholl, A. Plumb, D. Price Jones, J. M. Rees, T. Rudd, S. Saunders, J. Smailes, P. A. Stephenson, P. L. Stone, K. Thomas, Mrs A. M. Walden, R. J. Whale, D. Whisstock (Italy), A. Whittaker, G. H. Willett, K. & J. Wolff, R. Zara.
 

Comments
115 entries, no noticeable mistakes. Equal favourite clues (of 11 voted for): ‘Ointment made with egg on inside, all over’ (CERATF/CERATE) and ‘Venetian painter replacing bit of paint with mark having quivery effect’ (TIEMOLO/TREMOLO). I clearly misjudged the difficulty of the puzzle quite badly, thinking I’d not asked too much of you for such a milestone puzzle. I’d imagined that the message would be relatively easy to spot, so did not give too much away in the preamble. Many, it seems, initially looked for it in clue order, with consequent head-scratching. I’m sorry about this, which no doubt resulted in the low number of entries but, that said, many of you also said that the ‘penny-drop moment’ was all the sweeter when it came. Once the idea for the puzzle had occurred to me, filling the grid was if anything easier than usual, with so many ‘free’ letters to be incorporated, but, again, perhaps I should have tried harder to make the clues a bit easier. Even after fifty years I’m still learning!
 
Inevitably, clues submitted tended to dwell on the special nature of the occasion and were often extremely flattering, not to say blush-making. I’m also grateful to The Observer for the nice piece they featured to mark the occasion. The kind messages so many of you included with your entries were also wonderfully cheering. Thank you all.
 
Fifty years is a long time. Many of you have been solvers from the start, and even from the Ximenes era. John Tozer, custodian of all the facts and figures relating to both series, tells me that Azed ‘solvers have notched up just over 200,000 competition entries since Azed No. 1 (and if non-competition entries are similar that would make around 800,000 solutions posted)’. I look forward to seeing many of you again at the rescheduled lunch at Wolfson college on 28 May. If you were planning to come on the original date, do make sure that you re-register by contacting Richard Heald (address in the paper).