Azed

I got going pretty quickly with this one, and thought it might be a bit of a walkover, but the last few clues,especially in the SE corner, slowed me to a crawl. It … Read more >>

Nick:  This was perhaps the toughest ‘plain’ puzzle from Azed (other than the ‘specials’) that I have attempted – a definite 10/10 on the hardness scale.   But before the blog, something related: Well, … Read more >>

The usual mix of obscure words and Ximenean clues, although I have a couple of minor queries which I’m sure others can resolve. A crossword notable for three different ways of cluing the … Read more >>

This was a standard plain crossword from Azed with the usual mix of precise cluing and unfamilair words.       Azed’s puzzle always show how any word can be clued by breaking … Read more >>

A single unresolved wordplay and what appears to be a mistake by our friend Azed.  Difficulty about mid-range for Azed — not terribly easy but nonetheless solvable by mere mortals such as myself. See … Read more >>

A nice crossword of the type that Azed often sets. The preamble states “Apart from 1 Across, which is normal, each clue is really two clues, side by side but not overlapping, the … Read more >>

Another low- to medium-strength Azed, which didn’t keep me from my Easter eggs for too long, but provided good entertainment on the way. There seems to have been a rare lapse from strict … Read more >>

Nick:  Fairly straight forward puzzle this week.       Across 1. An imposition, endless blinking lowly status for oldies (9) HUMBLESSE HUM+BLESSE(d) [blinking ref. euphemism for swear word] 11. Virus causing a leaf … Read more >>

A reasonably straightforward plain puzzle this week, but I do have a couple of quibbles about the cluing, and one where I may not have understood the wordplay at all, so suggestions are … Read more >>

Another 6 weeks has gone by and Azed falls to me to blog again.  It’s always a pleasure to do battle with Azed’s precise clues       Having said that, there did … Read more >>

Pretty easy but I used the BRB without compunction and there’s a wordplay or two as “exercises for the reader”.  And a little Daily Telegraphism at the top: Dangerous Dan. Across 1 DESPERATE … Read more >>

As always a thoroughly satisfactory crossword from Azed. Quite apart from the quality of the clues, I am always impressed with his grids. More often than not, it seems, he has answers straddling … Read more >>

Having scarcely finished the previous week’s difficult Misprints puzzle before starting on this one I was expecting (hoping for?) a bit of a respite,. and so it proved, with a puzzle that was … Read more >>

Nick:  A very tough ‘Misprints’ puzzle, I thought – it took me about 7 hours of solving. I found this very hard going on the brain (but enjoyable), as not only did you … Read more >>

Another relatively easy puzzle by Azed standards, I thought, although it took me some time to parse all the answers. Two Hebrew terms (both in Chambers) and two French (also in Chambers) along … Read more >>