Collins A to Z of Crosswords [Hardcover]

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

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.

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.