Azed

Nick:  Typical AZED this week, which I rate 6/10 on the ‘Azedian’ hardness scale. Luckily no PD clues for me to fail on 😉 I have two queries; Why the MCG in 1dn, and … Read more >>

I found this a little harder than usual for an Azed,  although on reflection it is just the unfamiliarity of many of the words that creates the difficulty.  As always, there are no … Read more >>

This is the first AZED puzzle I have blogged.  Azed was my introduction to barred puzzles many years ago, but I drifted away as I began to have a go at Listeners and … Read more >>

Didn’t find this very easy.  With at least one wordplay not completely decoded.  Wasn’t helped by what appears to be a typo in 1D. Across 1 FAT,WA[y] 8 K,ABAB – rev(baba=cake) 13 RU(R,[t]ITANIA)N … Read more >>

The usual good crossword from Azed. It took me much the same time as I always take, which suggests that it wasn’t particularly difficult, but with all the endless thumbing of Chambers so … Read more >>

Azed has been producing some tricky puzzles lately, and this continues the trend (at least it did for me), with I think rather more obscure words and references than usual. I’ve had to … Read more >>

Nick:  Total failure this week; if this was a boxing match, Azed KO’ed me early in the fight (4th round?) I hate PD clues – hate them, and cannot ever recall completing a PD … Read more >>

I found this a fairly tough challenge, with even more unfamiliar words than usual.   I have on several occasions simply quoted the definition from Chambers without any additional comment. It was a … Read more >>

With my cruciverbal workload having increased recently, I have to make this my final Azed blog for the foreseeable future. It was a good one to go out on, with some clever and … Read more >>

What one expects: only a handful of clues were solvable without a sometimes protracted wade through Chambers. Someone somewhere may know enough words to solve these things without dictionary help, but I certainly … Read more >>

I started doing this on Sunday morning while looking after my nearly-3-year-old grandson, unsurprisingly making not much progress, and didn’t get around to finishing it off until Saturday, when in my less distracted … Read more >>

Great cluing from AZED this week. There are three ‘gotchas’ (mentioned below), and several other clue wordplays that are truly great. A joy to be able to complete it, which I think, after … Read more >>

I can’t remember Azed using this particular combination of devices before, although he may have done so under a different name. So far as the across clues are concerned, it is known as … Read more >>