Azed

Azed 2120/mostly gentle

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A relatively gentle exercise that didn’t require too many trips to Chambers.  I got stuck though on the NE corner for a long time (as long as the rest of the puzzle took) … Read more >>

AZED 2,209

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The first of Azed’s Letters Latent puzzles since VE(S)TAL in 2009. I won’t give the complete preamble since you have no doubt already seen it, but letters are missing from each answer whenever they occur and these missing letters make an appropriate seasonal quotation. The definition is to the whole word, the subsidiary indication to the word with letters missing. Two words are missing from this quotation and the first one is clued like all the rest in the puzzle; the second one is the competition clue-word.

In the answers I have given the omitted letters in lower-case.

The quotation (which I have to admit to finding using Google) was from Ernest Dowson: ‘pale amber sunlight falls across the [reddening October] trees’.

As with all Azed’s specials, this was much enjoyed.

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Azed 2208

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I thought I was off to a good start with this when I got all four of the long answers around the edges (including 34a by some inspired guesswork). I then polished off … Read more >>

AZED 2,206

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A good puzzle for those who haven’t tackled an Azed before, with several clues that wouldn’t be out of place in a daily cryptic puzzle.

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Azed 2205

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We had a plain competition Azed this week where one of the clues was a simple definition that yielded an entry to be clued as part of the competition       Bloggers over the … Read more >>

Azed 2204

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Fairly straightforward from the master.  Managed to solve in less than 2 hours (with frequent trips to TBRB).  Definitions underlined.       Across 1 Confirmed philistine, I’m backward, unaccompanied by substance (10) MI,SOLO,GIST … Read more >>

AZED 2,203

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Although the structure of most of these clues is fairly straightforward, as witness the number of them that can be parsed in one bit, I found this one of Azed’s harder crosswords, with many difficult words and shades of meaning. Coomassie blue and makunouchi aren’t things I talk about every day. Indeed there are red squiggly lines under two of these words and they won’t go away.

As usual I’m not going to explain all these difficult words. I don’t want to be up all night.

Definitions underlined.

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AZED 2,201

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My first Azed puzzle as a regular blogger entailing a very enjoyable trawl though Chambers. The great thing about blogging an Azed puzzle is that it gives me the perfect excuse to spend the afternoon reading the dictionary without attracting unwelcome comments about ‘needing to get a life’ etc. Thank you Azed.

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Azed 2199

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A plain competition Azed this week.       I enjoyed this, especially the two clues where there were two sets of wordplay leading to the entry – SCANDAL SHEETS (34 across) and LIND … Read more >>

AZED 2,197

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How Azed produces these grids I just don’t know. He doesn’t so far as I know use technology but compiles them neatly in an exercise book, something that I would find virtually impossible. He sticks comfortably to the Ximenean advice about unchecked letters in words and both grid and clues are full of words that require a close examination of Chambers. Amazing, week after week.

Definitions underlined.

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Azed 2196 – “Overlaps”

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I knew something special was coming up for this month’s competition, because Azed had mentioned in a previous Slip that constructing this one had caused him some trouble. Not surprising, with what are … Read more >>