Azed

Almost finished. Solved in the tranquility of Zurich and Geneva – where I’m finding it harder and harder to overcome my urges to constantly break the rules. I started by crossing against red … Read more >>

Azed produces these specials on non-competition days from time to time. This is one of his regulars, none the worse for that. I found that it was possible to get started by solving … Read more >>

This was a fairly typical Azed for me, in that I solved about three-quarters of it fairly quickly and without aids (though with plenty of educated guesswork) but took a bit longer on … Read more >>

Nick:  Typical Azed competition crossword this week, being a tad more difficult than normal plain puzzles; 7½/10 on the Azedian hardness scale for me. I am not impressed (my own personal view, being a … Read more >>

A very enjoyable puzzle this week, which I polished off on Sunday afternoon.  There are two splendid & lit clues,  as well as two hidden answers, both for rather longer words than usual.  … Read more >>

AZED has been compiling the Sunday barred crossword in The Observer for nearly 40 years and he continues to create a consistently challenging standard of puzzle.         This was another … Read more >>

A fairly straightforward Azed — relatively speaking.  The usual frequent excursions to the BRB.  But must be said, Azed is rarely if ever unfair and this is no exception.   Across 1 S(LACK … Read more >>

The usual thing: utterly sound clues and much struggling with words that one suspects will not for ever be retained by the Chambers Dictionary. Across 1 WALDRAPP — (law)rev. drapp{ie} — a drappie … Read more >>

“Wrong Number” is one of the older types of “special”, dating back at least to Ximenes. These puzzles can be hard to get started on, because you have to solve a lot of … Read more >>

Nick:   I found this quite a toughy this week, giving my rating of 8/10 on the Azedian hardness scale. I got tied up in the bottom half of the grid trying to correctly … Read more >>

An exceptionally tough Azed this week, with a very high proportion of unfamiliar and downright obscure words.   A knowledge of French was required for a couple of clues as well.  I confess to … Read more >>

It seemed to me that this puzzle had more than the usual helping of everyday words, or words I have met in crosswords before such that I was able to solve a good deal … Read more >>

Solved intermittently at my desk at work while waiting for something or other.  Needed the BRB more than usual it seemed but maybe I have a short memory. Across 1 S(CREW,T)OPPED 11 CA,ECA … Read more >>

As always an utterly satisfactory crossword from Azed. In several of these clues there is very neat wordplay, with words doing duty as different parts of speech according to whether they are in … Read more >>

Azed last (and I think first) set a special of this kind in June 2008. Tilsit reported finding it very difficult (and I see from the comments that I did too), and I … Read more >>