Azed

Azed 2665

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A mid-month puzzle from Azed is usually a plain puzzle, as this one is.     I got off to a good start, possibly because there were quite a few ‘everyday’ entries, but … Read more >>

Azed No. 2,663 – Competition Puzzle

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I’m afraid this puzzle defeated me. I think I have all the answers, but there are two where I am sure the answer’s right, but I couldn’t parse (SASTRA and TEAN), and one (INTROLD) where I’m not sure of the answer becasue I can’t find a definition that matches the clue.

This was tougher than most of the recent Azed’s I’ve had to blog, and it saw me referring more than normal to Chambers, where I found a load of words that I had never come across before, among them FINNAC, CHI-RHO, SASTRA, INTROLD, JARULS, KAHAL and RAHU. I was so disprited that I didn’t even try to come up with a clue for SONDAGE.

 

Thanks Azed

 

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Azed 2662

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I found this a bit of a slow solve, perhaps because of a higher-than-usual proportion of unfamiliar words. Fortunately I managed to get there in the end. of Thanks to Azed.   Across … Read more >>

Azed No. 2,661 Plain

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The usual sound offering from Azed. I don’t think there is any clue that I question.

Definitions underlined in crimson. Anagram indicators in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*.

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Azed 2659

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Azed gives us a standard plain puzzle for the competition this month.  The competition clue is the 12-letter entry at 2 down       I struggled a bit with the wording of … Read more >>

Azed 2656

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Now that the Observer has amended/clarified the rules for submitting Azed solutions we’re going back to publishing the blogs on the Sunday after the puzzle appears. After my first pass through the clues … Read more >>

Azed No. 2,655 ‘Printer’s Devilry’ – Competition Puzzle

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Azed produces these every year or two and they are very clever and great fun, but when I saw that it was a P.D. my heart sank, as they take me a long time to do and I wasn’t sure that I’d finish in time. However, having done several of these over the years I’m probably finding them easier. Why it should be that they appeal to the majority of solvers goodness knows, but they do, and the names of the prizewinners in Azed’s lists are much the same names as in his regular crosswords. They divide opinion a bit, and a few don’t like them at all. Personally I enjoy them despite their difficulty: the moment of realisation when what was a slightly clunky and incomprehensible sentence reveals itself is very nice.

The instructions I find pretty incomprehensible and it’s only by learning from various other sources that I know what to do. Why Azed bothers to say ‘Preference is given to…’ I can’t understand, since all the clues that I’ve ever seen quoted have been ‘correct’. Should he not make it a rule?

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Azed 2653

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We have a plain Azed puzzle this week, as is often the case mid month.       I wonder how often Azed uses entries that appear under the same headword entry in … Read more >>