Hi all,
Judging by the time taken, a slightly easier crossword from our new, tougher Everyman setter.
Observer
Azed 2245 / Carte Blanche
Azed has given us a carte blanche this week, the sort of thing he doesn’t often do, leaving his specials for when they are really worthwhile, the first Sunday of the month when … Read more >>
Azed 2244
A medium-difficulty Azed, I thought – I got through about three-quarters of it with not much trouble, and then took twice as long again to finish it off. Usual remarks about sound, high-quality … Read more >>
Everyman 3583/7 June
I’m still getting used to the style of our new Everyman setter. It’s certainly taking me a lot longer to solve Everyman these days, so I would surmise that the difficulty level has … Read more >>
Everyman 3,582
An easier Everyman than the last one I blogged
AZED 2,243
A couple of downright obscure words in here but on the whole quite amenable given enough time to think about it. Thank you AZED.
AZED 2,242
The usual educational foray into Chambers and the OED from Azed.
Everyman 3,581 (May 24)
The puzzle may be found athttp://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3581.
Everyman 3,580 (May 17)
The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3580.
Azed 2241
A plain Azed this week with its usual precise cluing leading to a mix of common and obscure words. I was held up for a while with the misdirection at … Read more >>
AZED 2,240
Some difficult wordplays to decode (e.g. 15A, 22D) with a typical rate of Big Red Book consultations. About medium for an Azed I’d say. Still would like some enlightenment below. Enlightenment provided by Norman and Sidey (thanks!)
Everyman 3579/May 10 2015
For those that haven’t picked up on it yet, the last puzzle from ‘Everyman’ was a few weeks ago: 3573, which had a ‘farewell’ theme and which Peter O blogged. Allan Scott, having … Read more >>
Everyman 3,578
Everyman with the usual easy-ish crossword
Azed 2239 ‘Spoonerisms’
In a way (but only a way) my heart sank when I saw what I was going to have to blog: Azed’s specials are always excellent but take ages and are often very complicated. I was unsure that I’d be able to cope, but it’s all done now and any mistakes have now been made, I’m afraid.
It’s a long preamble, which I won’t repeat, except to say that there are two types of clue, occurring in more or less equal numbers. In half of them (and in these clues I’ve put (D) by the answer) you have to define the answer by finding a spoonerism in the clue. In the other half, which I found more difficult, certainly at the start — I had about ten of the first type before I got any of this type — the clue leads to a spoonerism of the answer, which is always a word in Chambers. So in these cases the answer isn’t actually defined and perhaps that’s what makes it so difficult to get started on them. In the first case the subsidiary indication is normal and in the second it leads to the actual word in the answer, not the spoonerism of it.
Really good. Definitions underlined.
Azed 2238
After my run of specials, it’s almost a relief to have “just” a Plain Azed to blog. I didn’t get off too lightly, though: I did about three-quarters of this quite quickly and … Read more >>