Azed

As always an utterly satisfactory crossword from Azed. In several of these clues there is very neat wordplay, with words doing duty as different parts of speech according to whether they are in … Read more >>

Azed last (and I think first) set a special of this kind in June 2008. Tilsit reported finding it very difficult (and I see from the comments that I did too), and I … Read more >>

Nick:  Typical AZED this week, which I rate 6/10 on the ‘Azedian’ hardness scale. Luckily no PD clues for me to fail on 😉 I have two queries; Why the MCG in 1dn, and … Read more >>

I found this a little harder than usual for an Azed,  although on reflection it is just the unfamiliarity of many of the words that creates the difficulty.  As always, there are no … Read more >>

This is the first AZED puzzle I have blogged.  Azed was my introduction to barred puzzles many years ago, but I drifted away as I began to have a go at Listeners and … Read more >>

Didn’t find this very easy.  With at least one wordplay not completely decoded.  Wasn’t helped by what appears to be a typo in 1D. Across 1 FAT,WA[y] 8 K,ABAB – rev(baba=cake) 13 RU(R,[t]ITANIA)N … Read more >>

The usual good crossword from Azed. It took me much the same time as I always take, which suggests that it wasn’t particularly difficult, but with all the endless thumbing of Chambers so … Read more >>

Azed has been producing some tricky puzzles lately, and this continues the trend (at least it did for me), with I think rather more obscure words and references than usual. I’ve had to … Read more >>

Nick:  Total failure this week; if this was a boxing match, Azed KO’ed me early in the fight (4th round?) I hate PD clues – hate them, and cannot ever recall completing a PD … Read more >>

I found this a fairly tough challenge, with even more unfamiliar words than usual.   I have on several occasions simply quoted the definition from Chambers without any additional comment. It was a … Read more >>

With my cruciverbal workload having increased recently, I have to make this my final Azed blog for the foreseeable future. It was a good one to go out on, with some clever and … Read more >>

What one expects: only a handful of clues were solvable without a sometimes protracted wade through Chambers. Someone somewhere may know enough words to solve these things without dictionary help, but I certainly … Read more >>

I started doing this on Sunday morning while looking after my nearly-3-year-old grandson, unsurprisingly making not much progress, and didn’t get around to finishing it off until Saturday, when in my less distracted … Read more >>