Azed

For me, this was very much at the easy end of the Azed spectrum, though I needed a dictionary to check a few words. No special favourite clue this week, though there are … Read more >>

I have several crossword ambitions, very few of which I’ll actually achieve. E.g. finish the T2 quick crossword in the annual top 10, an all-correct Listener year, win a Times clue competition and… … Read more >>

The usual very satisfactory offering from Azed. I have learned not to look too far for wonderful surfaces, but to admire the faultless construction of his clues. Across 2 J ASS — one … Read more >>

A reasonably difficult puzzle for me, taking about an hour, with Chambers used a lot. I think part of the difficulty was not getting 1A or 13D quickly. Azed seems to have errred … Read more >>

A puzzle of two halves, I found: I whizzed though about two-thirds very quickly and without aids, then struggled rather more to finish it off. As promised, I’ve done this blog in the … Read more >>

Nick:  I am trying a new format here, with the full clue next to the clue number and the solution with word play/comments underneath.  Often when reading other blogs on this site, I … Read more >>

So far as I can discover, this is the first Playfair competition puzzle for around two years, the last having been 1804, which must have been in December 2007 (probably the Christmas competition) … Read more >>

Better late than never, I hope. I was relieved finally to retrieve my solved copy of this from the recycling bin, as I did not want to find time for re-solving it before … Read more >>

As per usual a wordplay or two which I’m not sure of. Somewhat harder than my last Azed outing (1958). And a surprised groan or two were elicited (Azed isn’t the most humorous … Read more >>

It can hardly be that I am suddenly becoming quicker at these, but I found this unusually easy. Apart from the strangeness of some of the words, it presented no more problems than … Read more >>

I found this a pretty tough Azed, making little progress in my initial cocky “no Chambers for me” mode, and requiring two solving sessions rather than one. Overall time was over an hour, … Read more >>

Azed starts the new year (though not, please, the “second decade of the 21st Century” – that’s next year) with a puzzle that was mostly straightforward: I manage to complete most of it … Read more >>

Nick:  My first blog on AZED and luckily it was a (fairly!) straight forward plod after the herculean ‘Christmas Parcels’ competition (and what a word to clue to boot!).  Some nice words this … Read more >>

This was one of the hardest Azeds that I can remember. I was certainly in need of the additional time allowed, even during a holiday period. I found that I needed to make … Read more >>

An Azed of average difficulty this week, I think; I needed a dictionary to check several answers. The words ‘whample’ and ‘sprangle’ were both delightful discoveries. No clue stands out as favourite of … Read more >>