Azed

Nick:  Fairly straight forward Azed this week. I found nothing too taxing, although there are some gotcha’s unless the clues are parsed correctly. I also correctly guessed the competition phrase in about 60 … Read more >>

I admit to a slight feeling of trepidation when I opened my Observer last Sunday and noticed that it was a Playfair puzzle, knowing that it was my turn to blog.  It’s almost … Read more >>

Azed, as usual, has given us a master class in precise cluing., where it is always clear when  you have derived the right answer from the wordplay.       There weren’t very … Read more >>

Not sure how hard this actually was since I solved it over several days in between various meetings.   Found TBRB quite useful — understatement of the year. Across 1 GOSS,I,B – a … Read more >>

The usual very pleasant workout from Azed. I always find that I make steady progress and then reach an impasse, when I simply can’t parse one or two of the clues. But they … Read more >>

I found this mostly pretty easy, finishing it (so I thought) without aids in about half an hour, greatly helped by getting the long answers at 1a and 1d early on. Writing up … Read more >>

Nick:  Very tough cluing this week from Azed. 13ac, 31ac, 4dn, 16dn and 27dn caused me a few moments of head scratching trying to parse the clues correctly.   Finally 18ac was a … Read more >>

In this puzzle, which features a 13 by 11 grid, Azed gives us 3 long answers both across and down.  The puzzle also includes a larger than usual number of 4 letter words, … Read more >>

17:30 21 October – corrupted data in the file has been removed – the blog now reads correctly. This was a Carte Blanche Competition Puzzle from Azed where solvers were presented with a … Read more >>

Due to an error in some editions of the Observer last week, the closing date for entries for this puzzle has been extended by a week. As a result, the relevant blog will … Read more >>

I found this somewhat harder than usual fare.  Maybe I was distracted but it took more than a couple of hours to crack. Across 1 APPL(ERING)IE[d] – yes, a type of wormwood I … Read more >>

As always.  It speaks for itself. I know it isn’t Sunday yet, but there is only just over an hour to go, so there shouldn’t be a problem. There won’t be any mail … Read more >>

Definitely one from the hard end of the Azed scale. Starting this last Sunday morning, I failed to solve more than a smattering of clues, so I put it aside and didn’t get … Read more >>

Nick:  Typical Azed this week, …with all the usual Azed devices. Anyone under 30 (I guess) would have struggled with 15ac, but once the checked letters are in only one word fits, so can … Read more >>

My first blog of an AZED as bridgesong is away at the moment.  I guess it must be at the easier end of the AZED spectrum as I completed the puzzle in a single … Read more >>