A few flashes of insight finally got me into the groove on this pleasant puzzle . . .
Azed
Azed No. 2,699 Plain
A plain Azed puzzle.
Azed 2698
Slightly harder than some recent Plains, I thought, but not too many problems. Thanks to Azed. Across 1 UMBRELLA‑STAND Bit of hall furniture? Broken tumblers land around one (13, 2 words)A in … Read more >>
Azed No. 2,697 – Plain
A pleasant and not too difficult crossword from Azed. I got into a bit of a mess with the software that produces the blog (which was thrown by the strange enumeration at 1ac), but with some help from the writer of the software and a little fiddling I think it’s now in an acceptable form. Some of the anagram indicators are a bit extreme, but Azed basically allows anything where there is a little bit of jiggling.
Definitions in crimson, underlined; anagram indicators in italics; anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*.
Azed No. 2,696 Plain
A couple of typos appear to have crept in to this week’s puzzle.
Azed 2695 / Give & Take
Azed has given us a non-standard puzzle this week where we have to add or subtract letters to or from the clue answers before entry in the grid. The preamble … Read more >>
Azed No. 2,694 Plain – Competition Puzzle
A friendly offering from Azed this week.
Azed No. 2,693 – Plain
A headscratcher from Azed.
Azed 2692
I found this pretty easy for an Azed, though it took me a while to get the parsing of 15a, and I have a couple of quibbles. Thanks to Azed. Across 1 … Read more >>
Azed No. 2,691 Plain
It’s always a relief when blogging duty coincides with an Azed plain, because his specials, which are especially good, always take me ages to do. I admire his grid construction: OK some of the words are pretty wild, but they are all there in Chambers so far as I can see, and to fit words into a 12×12 grid where there are four 11-letter words abutting each other in pairs seems brilliant. 5 and 8dn are presenting problems, which I’m sure will be explained to me.
Definitions underlined in crimson. Anagrams indicated (like this)* or *(this), with their indicators in italics.
Azed No. 2,690 Plain
A plain Azed with a competition word.
Azed No. 2,688: ‘A Cool Yomp’ – Christmas Competition Puzzle
NOTE: This blog was previously posted on December 31, 2023, and was temporarily withdrawn in light of the announcement of a corrected closing date for the competition.
I viewed with some dread the fact that I had drawn the Christmas Eve Azed slot, having failed in years past to complete the special holiday puzzles (the one about “presents around the tree” being an especially unpleasant memory.) And as one who finds Spoonerisms nearly always overwrought and almost never even remotely witty, the prospect of an entire puzzle constructed with Spoonerisms put a wet blanket on my Christmas cheer. And as one who frequently struggles with purported “homophones” based upon Received Pronunciation, I knew that I was in for a mindbender, at best, and outright failure, at worst. Setting those grinchy cavils aside, I must say, I think that I have actually completed this crossword correctly. It took me several sittings, but ultimately, I found the challenge enjoyable. Saying the words and their possible phonemic inversions out loud definitely helped with solving.
Azed 2689
This is the final Azed of 2023 with the usual mix of known and lesser know entries. I know this blog precedes the blog for the Spoonerism Competition Puzzle Azed 2688, … Read more >>
Azed No. 2,687 Plain
Another plain puzzle this week.
Azed 2686
For grid-spotters, this one is slightly unusual in having 90-degree rotational symmetry, though that doesn’t seem to have any special significance. Just another quality puzzle from the master. Thanks to Azed. Across 1 … Read more >>