Azed

The usual thing: utterly sound clues and much struggling with words that one suspects will not for ever be retained by the Chambers Dictionary. Across 1 WALDRAPP — (law)rev. drapp{ie} — a drappie … Read more >>

“Wrong Number” is one of the older types of “special”, dating back at least to Ximenes. These puzzles can be hard to get started on, because you have to solve a lot of … Read more >>

Nick:   I found this quite a toughy this week, giving my rating of 8/10 on the Azedian hardness scale. I got tied up in the bottom half of the grid trying to correctly … Read more >>

An exceptionally tough Azed this week, with a very high proportion of unfamiliar and downright obscure words.   A knowledge of French was required for a couple of clues as well.  I confess to … Read more >>

It seemed to me that this puzzle had more than the usual helping of everyday words, or words I have met in crosswords before such that I was able to solve a good deal … Read more >>

Solved intermittently at my desk at work while waiting for something or other.  Needed the BRB more than usual it seemed but maybe I have a short memory. Across 1 S(CREW,T)OPPED 11 CA,ECA … Read more >>

As always an utterly satisfactory crossword from Azed. In several of these clues there is very neat wordplay, with words doing duty as different parts of speech according to whether they are in … Read more >>

Azed last (and I think first) set a special of this kind in June 2008. Tilsit reported finding it very difficult (and I see from the comments that I did too), and I … Read more >>

Nick:  Typical AZED this week, which I rate 6/10 on the ‘Azedian’ hardness scale. Luckily no PD clues for me to fail on 😉 I have two queries; Why the MCG in 1dn, and … Read more >>

I found this a little harder than usual for an Azed,  although on reflection it is just the unfamiliarity of many of the words that creates the difficulty.  As always, there are no … Read more >>

This is the first AZED puzzle I have blogged.  Azed was my introduction to barred puzzles many years ago, but I drifted away as I began to have a go at Listeners and … Read more >>

Didn’t find this very easy.  With at least one wordplay not completely decoded.  Wasn’t helped by what appears to be a typo in 1D. Across 1 FAT,WA[y] 8 K,ABAB – rev(baba=cake) 13 RU(R,[t]ITANIA)N … Read more >>

The usual good crossword from Azed. It took me much the same time as I always take, which suggests that it wasn’t particularly difficult, but with all the endless thumbing of Chambers so … Read more >>

Azed has been producing some tricky puzzles lately, and this continues the trend (at least it did for me), with I think rather more obscure words and references than usual. I’ve had to … Read more >>