The Azed and the Tortoise

Latest Update : Saturday 19 April 18:30 – Update from UK forums

 When he enquired about the non-appearance of this week’s Azed on the website, regular correspondent Jim received an email from the Guardian which suggested that no more Azed puzzles would be published by the Guardian. He subsequently received a correction to the effect that Azed 2,757 would appear on the website as normal on 20th April; this makes sense, given that the transition to Tortoise Media occurs on 22nd April.

Jim has also been in touch with the Tortoise, and has received the following statement:

Yes indeed, we will continue publishing the Azed crossword. It will be in the paper and also on our brand new website on 27 April. Our new website is not live yet, but it will launch on the 25th. The address is: observer.co.uk

Jim has further asked the Tortoise whether there will be a version available online outside any paywalls. Updates to follow.

The Tortoise Media site has general information about their objectives post-acquisition, including the following:

We will put The Observer’s online content behind a paywall, following The Atlantic’s highly successful revival by adapting to today’s media environment. We believe in its future, both in digital and as a multi-section newspaper published each and every Sunday.

This does the raise the question of whether an online version of Azed will be accessible to non-subscribers. Based on the information from Tortoise, the puzzle will be available to purchasers of the paper itself and to existing digital subscribers (Observer-only subscribers will have their subscriptions transferred to Tortoise, while Guardian+Observer subscriptions will continue as before). I imagine that the digital version will also be available through PressReader, which can be used free of charge by library card holders.

The following was posted on at least two UK forums on 19th April by a user calling themselves ‘obspuzzleproduction’:

The next Azed puzzle, No. 2,757 (20 April), will be published on the Guardian website as usual. That’s the final edition of The Observer under Guardian News & Media ownership.

From 27 April, Tortoise Media will publish The Observer, and Azed will continue without interruption, appearing both in print and online at the new web address: www.observer.co.uk
The format, competitions, and postal submission process remain unchanged.

There will be a new interactive version online, but answers will not be revealed, and solvers will still need to print and submit by post for the weekly competition, to the new address:
Azed No. —-, The Observer, Tortoise Media, 22–24 Berners Street, London, W1T 3LP
(including your name and address).

Submissions to the PO Box for the monthly clue-writing competition remain unchanged. For now, crosswords will be freely available at observer.co.uk. Register on the website and sign up to the Observer Daily newsletter to hear about future plans for crosswords, puzzles and more.

More soon!

The ‘for now’ bit above could be viewed in different ways, depending on whether you are a ‘grid half full’ or a ‘grid half empty’.

If anyone has any further information, please leave a comment below or  email me.