Azed – The Beginning

On Sunday 10th May this year the 2,500th Azed crossword will be published, a remarkable landmark for this series which has become the yardstick for innovative, entertaining and scrupulously fair clueing. It was through Azed that I became interested in the technical details of clue writing, and for my money there is no crossword regularly published in the UK which comes close in terms of quality. In the run-up to Azed 2,500 I plan to post a number of items, which will include some puzzles. It seems only fitting that the first puzzle should be Azed No.1, originally published in March 1972, where Azed’s inimitable style and sense of fun are already very evident.

For a printable PDF version of the puzzle, click here.

Note that the entry at 5ac was the competition clue word; the clue that appears here is S L Paton’s winning entry.

Please feel free to leave comments on the puzzle. To view the solution, click here.