Observer

Azed 1973

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For me, this was very much at the easy end of the Azed spectrum, though I needed a dictionary to check a few words. No special favourite clue this week, though there are … Read more >>

Everyman 3312

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This was nice and pretty gentle. The main features worth noting are three 15-letter anagrams and a rather nice long even-letters clue. If I was in a complaining mood I would say that … Read more >>

Azed 1972/SOLVED (7)

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I have several crossword ambitions, very few of which I’ll actually achieve. E.g. finish the T2 quick crossword in the annual top 10, an all-correct Listener year, win a Times clue competition and… … Read more >>

Azed 1971

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The usual very satisfactory offering from Azed. I have learned not to look too far for wonderful surfaces, but to admire the faultless construction of his clues. Across 2 J ASS — one … Read more >>

Everyman 3310

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Well, I for one think this one was a bit more challenging than the last few that I’ve blogged. A couple of nice cryptic definitions, and some slightly more obscure words both as … Read more >>

Azed 1970 – Plain

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A reasonably difficult puzzle for me, taking about an hour, with Chambers used a lot. I think part of the difficulty was not getting 1A or 13D quickly. Azed seems to have errred … Read more >>

Azed 1969

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A puzzle of two halves, I found: I whizzed though about two-thirds very quickly and without aids, then struggled rather more to finish it off. As promised, I’ve done this blog in the … Read more >>

Everyman 3308

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Plenty of anagrams this week particularly in the down clues (I count 10 clues containing at least a part anagram). Since these are often the easiest to spot, it should have been quite … Read more >>

AZED No. 1,968 Plain

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Nick:  I am trying a new format here, with the full clue next to the clue number and the solution with word play/comments underneath.  Often when reading other blogs on this site, I … Read more >>

Azed 1967 – playing fairly

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So far as I can discover, this is the first Playfair competition puzzle for around two years, the last having been 1804, which must have been in December 2007 (probably the Christmas competition) … Read more >>

Everyman 3306

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Well I think the obvious feature of this one is all the compound solutions. Personally I think these are fun, but that they make the whole thing much easier (the more words they … Read more >>