I would never in a million years think that the Guardian is the World's best designed newspaper. I think it's sloppy at times in its headlines -- they split Tony and Blair in this example -- and other times it's gray. One of the many reasons I consider SND a crock o crap.

You only consider SND a crock o crap? It has been that for many years.

Having only actually held a few copies of the redesigned Guardian in my hands, I don't think I'm in a position to say one way or the other. I can say the copies I saw were vastly more sophisticated than any American paper I've ever looked at. Not even close, really. But that's par for the course isn't it? If there were an Olympics of newspaper design, I fear the American medal count would be meager.

Did anyone else notice the main head is touching the mast blue box and a few picas away from the story it goes with. And this is the "worlds best design"?

Not sure which school of design certain critics of the guardian header went to, but having text touching other aspects of a page is widely considered very elegant these days and actually has been for many decades.
It is only due to unimaginative people with a very limited understanding of design that stops designers from really experimenting with the potential a newspaper can present one with.

Self-important, table for one. (By the way, I have no opinion of the pages in question. I would read them -- or, at least, the one in English -- but not because the type is or isn't touching something else.)

The important thing here is that for many years, America is not the place where the best designed newspapers are. Either for their news approach or for their design concepts.

If you zoom in you'll see that the headline doesn't actually touch the blue box

Not to poke at you in particular Jenna, but that's really the headline style of The Guardian (and was even before the redesign) -- if you notice the column headline, as well as the reefers on the bottom (and even the deck on the Blair article), they're all a pica or two up.

What's more on my mind is if Mark plans to put something up similar to last year's gallery. I miss seeing that from this year's competition. No offense to SND, but their site really doesn't do anywhere near similar justice.