I thought this had more that its fair share of clues on the harder end of the spectrum. Dare I say I understand all definitions and wordplay (yes, I know, I’m begging to be corrected).
ilancaron
Azed 2252/pulled muscle
Kind of a low-tech blog — apologies. I pulled a muscle, can’t get blogging utility to refer to old puzzles, the check is in the mail nd the dog ate my homework. Oh, and … Read more >>
AZED 2,246
Quite a straightforward exercise in using Chambers (aka TBRB). I got hung up though for ages on the SW corner since I had confidently entered GRINS instead of GIRNS for 32A.
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!)
AZED 2,234
I managed to charge through this pretty quickly at my desk while pretending to work (and listening to The Rolling Stones on YouTube — unrelated I think). A couple of wordplays still to resolve which I fully plan to… (best laid plans…)
AZED 2,228/hi-tech
I found this hard at first and didn’t make much headway until I’d cracked a couple of the long downs. Azed’s tech-knowledge surprised me a bit — so much so that I resisted both tech-centric answers until I could do so no longer.
AZED 2,222
I solved this rather quickly (for me) and didn’t find myself abusing Chambers. A relatively healthy number of &lits but I struggled to understand the definition of DAFT until an email friend helped me out of my misery.
AZED 2,216
Scots, Scots and more Scots. Nonetheless, with help from that well-known Scots dictionary, Chambers, managed the slog. Not the most easy of Azed’s but eventually I think I tamed it.
Azed 2120/mostly gentle
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 2204
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 >>
Azed 2198/this and this and this and thus
I found this quite hard. Lots of “indirect” clues — where the wordplay requires solving for this. A good example is 33A. Across 1 Twangy instrument I am, bass, kept in box? GU(I’M,B)ARD … Read more >>
Azed 2192/off-by-one
Other than a numbering malfunction in the online edition once it had finally become available after a couple of days (across clue numbers from 29 needed to be incremented which I spent far … Read more >>
Azed 2186/over the top
Relatively gentle for an Azed (i.e. I solved it in about an hour which is fast for me). A couple of uncharacteristic errors — incorrect enumeration at 31A and bad anagram fodder at … Read more >>
Azed 2180
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 >>
Azed 2174/Setter’s devilry
Not my forte. In fact I think this is the first time I’ve tried to solve a PD puzzle (so you really do have to ask yourself, why am I “the official blogger?”). … Read more >>