Comments on: Azed 1867

By: Richard Heald

Richard Heald — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:38:55 +0000

Agree with you entirely about this Sunday’s puzzle, Roland – I found it very heavy going. Matters weren’t helped by one answer having a faulty definition, another being a proper name I’d never heard of, and an indirect anagram that must be among the most contentious ever seen in an Azed puzzle.

By: roland

roland — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:19:07 +0000

This week’s Azed (1868)is the hardest I have yet done….. please don’t record it on the site with the customary “this took me 75 minutes”- some of us may be heartbroken to hear such things.

By: mhl

mhl — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 19:43:41 +0000

I think the second definition of DOLLY (“It’s hard to miss”) refers to an easy shot in golf (or any sport) – in Chambers one of the definitions is “a slow-moving target that is easy to hit”.

By: Colin Blackburn

Colin Blackburn — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 16:59:46 +0000

Richard, many thanks for putting my mind at rest over WHEAR and for GERLE. I got too hung up over MERLE and didn’t think that there might be another ?ERLE word! Good job it wasn’t a competition puzzle.

By: Richard Heald

Richard Heald — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 15:49:20 +0000

26D is GERLE, I think.

Your interpretation of 17A is right, I’d say, with the definition for WHEAR referring to its status as a relative pronoun – an unusual ploy, certainly, but in my view not an unfair one, owing to the relative scarcity of such words.

And the anagram at 35A does indeed feature a bonus R, which seems to be becoming something of an Azed trademark.