Observer

Azed 2211

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As ever, a well constructed puzzle from Azed.       There are a couple of clues where I am not entirely sure of the wordplay, indeed for 16 across [SEMPER] I really … Read more >>

Azed 2120/mostly gentle

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A relatively gentle exercise that didn’t require too many trips to Chambers.  I got stuck though on the NE corner for a long time (as long as the rest of the puzzle took) … Read more >>

AZED 2,209

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The first of Azed’s Letters Latent puzzles since VE(S)TAL in 2009. I won’t give the complete preamble since you have no doubt already seen it, but letters are missing from each answer whenever they occur and these missing letters make an appropriate seasonal quotation. The definition is to the whole word, the subsidiary indication to the word with letters missing. Two words are missing from this quotation and the first one is clued like all the rest in the puzzle; the second one is the competition clue-word.

In the answers I have given the omitted letters in lower-case.

The quotation (which I have to admit to finding using Google) was from Ernest Dowson: ‘pale amber sunlight falls across the [reddening October] trees’.

As with all Azed’s specials, this was much enjoyed.

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Everyman 3547/28 September

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Another pleasing Sunday morning crossword from Everyman.  One or two old chesnutty friends making an appearance, but it’s a puzzle for improving solvers, so we won’t quibble. Appearances from PORTIA and LADY MACBETH, … Read more >>

Azed 2208

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I thought I was off to a good start with this when I got all four of the long answers around the edges (including 34a by some inspired guesswork). I then polished off … Read more >>

AZED 2,206

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A good puzzle for those who haven’t tackled an Azed before, with several clues that wouldn’t be out of place in a daily cryptic puzzle.

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Everyman 3544

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Hello all, Struggling with internet access, so the following may be a little garbled. Apologies if it doesn’t make much sense. A pleasant enough puzzle, I thought, with at least one new usage … Read more >>

Azed 2205

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We had a plain competition Azed this week where one of the clues was a simple definition that yielded an entry to be clued as part of the competition       Bloggers over the … Read more >>

Azed 2204

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Fairly straightforward from the master.  Managed to solve in less than 2 hours (with frequent trips to TBRB).  Definitions underlined.       Across 1 Confirmed philistine, I’m backward, unaccompanied by substance (10) MI,SOLO,GIST … Read more >>