A fine selection of obscure words from AZED, very enjoyable to track them all down.
Azed
AZED 2,224
A harder than usual puzzle from Azed this week, with a 13 by 11 grid, including a higher than average number of & lit clues.
Azed 2223
Azed has given us another masterclass in precise clueing Solving an Azed crossword is always a good source of general knowledge, although whether I will use much of it outside … Read more >>
AZED 2,222
I solved this rather quickly (for me) and didn’t find myself abusing Chambers. A relatively healthy number of &lits but I struggled to understand the definition of DAFT until an email friend helped me out of my misery.
AZED 2,221
Something very odd has happened this week. The paper and originally the website printed a totally irrelevant clue for 20ac, with Azed’s clue provided (hastily?) after a day or two. Also the website had some extraordinary glitches: it put (5) (5) after 25ac, (7) (7) after 18dn, and (6) (6) after 22dn. Also, 10dn was given as (7) instead of (5), and — at any rate by Tuesday — this hadn’t been corrected.
Which didn’t detract from the usual pleasant solving experience. Everything was straightforward enough and it was obvious what the mistakes were. Azed’s clues are in retrospect nearly always easy to solve: they are difficult simply because they use words that are, to say the least, outside one’s normal experience. This doesn’t take away from their quality, though.
As usual some dictionary research will be needed by you, dear reader, if you are to understand eveything about all the clues. I have underlined the definitions.
Azed 2220 – Christmas Crackers
In six-and-a-half years of blogging Azed, this is the first time the luck of the draw has brought me a Christmas puzzle. I was a bit apprehensive at the prospect, as some of … Read more >>
Azed 2,219
My apologies for the late appearance of this post. The scheduled blogger forgot that it was his turn and did not solve the puzzle (I’ll put it down to festive spirit!). Too many … Read more >>
AZED 2,218
A plain puzzle for the December competition, although no doubt the Christmas special will be rather more complex.
Azed 2,217
This is the last time you will see me for a while unless someone else decides to go on holiday. It is also the first time I have been scheduled to blog an … Read more >>
AZED 2,216
Scots, Scots and more Scots. Nonetheless, with help from that well-known Scots dictionary, Chambers, managed the slog. Not the most easy of Azed’s but eventually I think I tamed it.
AZED 2,215
A standard and typically sound and pleasant Plain from Azed this week. Most of the clues allow a very straightforward and brief parsing. One or two of his ways are a bit beyond me, and 8dn is completely beyond me, but I trust someone will explain.
As usual I won’t trouble you with explanations of the rare words: they are all there in Chambers.
Definitions underlined.
Azed 2214 – Jigsaw
Azed gives us a jigsaw about every two years, and by the luck of the draw I also blogged the last one. As I said then, my first step with these is to … Read more >>
AZED 2,213
I found this quite tricky, especially on the left-hand side of the grid. I spent a lot of time trawling Chambers to make progress there.
AZED 2,212
This week’s plain puzzle contained several clues that would not be out of place in a daily cryptic.
Azed 2211
As ever, a well constructed puzzle from Azed. There are a couple of clues where I am not entirely sure of the wordplay, indeed for 16 across [SEMPER] I really … Read more >>