Observer

Everyman N° 3,525

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The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3525. Everyman is branching out – last week a Nina, here a mini-theme, if two Tolkien clues (and maybe in 12A a third, at a pinch) counts … Read more >>

AZED 2,185

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The usual Azed, where the wordplay is so precise that you can often be pretty sure of the answers without knowing the words. I solved most of this when away for the weekend and came home with many unknown words written by the clues but not yet in the grid, ready for me to look them up in Chambers.

I thought that 19dn was very good, but my godson had a point when he opined that the ‘e.g.’ takes away from the surface reading. However, Azed (but not all setters, including some in The Times) clearly abhors a definition by example. And rightly so in my opinion.

Definitions in italics.

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Azed 2,184

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Owing to a very busy week I’ve hardly had time to solve this puzzle – which I think was of above average difficulty, thanks to a high proportion of unfamiliar words – let … Read more >>

Everyman 3523/13 April

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Another lovely Everyman, with plenty of anagrams to get us going, and some delightful but accessible clues all over the grid.     Abbreviations cd  cryptic definition dd  double definition (xxxx)*  anagram anagrind … Read more >>

Azed 2181

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A standard Azed this week with its usual mix of everyday and obscure words, all delivered from precise cluing.       There’s always a few clues that give you a foothold, even … Read more >>

Azed 2180

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On the easier end of the Azed scale – but nonetheless required dipping into the BRB.  Attached is the raw grid I scribbled on just for fun. azed_2180 Across 1 C(H,L,O)RACNE – h,l,o … Read more >>

Everyman 3519/16 March

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Always a pleasure to solve and blog an Everyman.  The usual combination of smooth surfaces and accessible clueing.  The enumeration for one of the clues struck me as unusual, but perhaps others have … Read more >>

AZED 2,179

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How Azed manages to cope with all these words I simply don’t know. Practically every time there is at least one that I’ve never heard of either in the answer or in the … Read more >>