Observer

Azed 2668

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A medium-strength offering from the master, challenging and instructive as ever. Thanks to Azed. Rather unusually, the rubric mentions three “problematic” answers: two that are not in Chambers, and one abbreviation. Azed sometimes … Read more >>

Azed No. 2,667 Plain

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What one expects from Azed: sound clueing, lots of crazy words that need a copy of Chambers, and all very enjoyable.

Definitions in crimson, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics and shown *(like this) or (this)*

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Everyman 4,005/23 July

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All the usual trademarks in this week’s Everyman. As always, a sound and pleasing puzzle. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition cad clue as definition (xxxx)* anagram anagrind = anagram indicator [x] … Read more >>

Everyman 4,004

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Everyman has done all the right things here so far as I can see. Nice surfaces, sound clues, and all within the restrictions of the rhyming pair, the self-referential clue and the first letters clue. When history is written I suspect this Everyman will bear comparison with some of the greats of the past.

Definitions underlined, in crimson. Indicators (hidden, anagram, homophone, reversal etc.) in italics. Anagrams indicated like (this)* or *(this). Link-words in green.

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Azed 2665

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A mid-month puzzle from Azed is usually a plain puzzle, as this one is.     I got off to a good start, possibly because there were quite a few ‘everyday’ entries, but … Read more >>

Everyman 4,002

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I was wondering whether I would be able to blog this when I solved it last Sunday but we seem to up again. I’ll be away and unable to fix up any errors when this is published.

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Azed No. 2,663 – Competition Puzzle

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I’m afraid this puzzle defeated me. I think I have all the answers, but there are two where I am sure the answer’s right, but I couldn’t parse (SASTRA and TEAN), and one (INTROLD) where I’m not sure of the answer becasue I can’t find a definition that matches the clue.

This was tougher than most of the recent Azed’s I’ve had to blog, and it saw me referring more than normal to Chambers, where I found a load of words that I had never come across before, among them FINNAC, CHI-RHO, SASTRA, INTROLD, JARULS, KAHAL and RAHU. I was so disprited that I didn’t even try to come up with a clue for SONDAGE.

 

Thanks Azed

 

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Azed 2662

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I found this a bit of a slow solve, perhaps because of a higher-than-usual proportion of unfamiliar words. Fortunately I managed to get there in the end. of Thanks to Azed.   Across … Read more >>

Everyman 4,001/25 June

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After the excitement last week of the publication of the themed 4000th puzzle, it’s back to normal this week for Everyman, with the usual trademark inclusions. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition … Read more >>

Everyman 4,000

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It’s convenient that The Observer is today carrying an article about the Everyman which lists the setters — it says it started with Ximenes, who was Colin Macnutt: in fact he was Derrick Macnutt, which Everyman knows because he’s in the grid; there was Alec Robins, Dorothy Taylor, Allan Scott (who is there as ASCOT, also Alan Connor himself perhaps) and Colin Gumbrell. Because of the need to fit these names in, Everyman has apparently missed out on the usual rhyming clues and the self-referential clue. Can anyone say who Philippa is?

I thought this was trickier than usual, but it was a good crossword and there are no major gripes.

Definitions in italics, underlined. Indicators (homophone, hidden, reversal, etc.) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in green.

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