Observer

Solving time: not recorded, but I did finish this without looking anything up. 8/11 were the last two to go in. A couple of quibbles at 12 and 35, and some of the … Read more >>

I have mixed feelings about Spoonerisms puzzles — they can be fun, but they can also score pretty highly on the cringe-inducing scale. They can also depend on one’s accent (see 27d, which … Read more >>

I don’t know my solving time so I’ll break with the tradition of the last few blogs. I often solve puzzles piecemeal, here and there, and interspersed with bits of Listener solving, daily … Read more >>

Solving time 47:10, with one clue left (which I eventually got while writing this blog entry). This one was split roughly half and half between entries using familiar vocabulary and those that had … Read more >>

Solving Time: around 75 minutes. A tough challenge from Azed this week with some straight-forward stuff, but one or two really tricky clues that took me a while to work out.  Music:  Maria Callas giving her … Read more >>

In theory I should delay this another hour but I’m sure anyone intending to write a clue to HUMONGOUS will have done so by now. Solving time: 22:20 – no books – and … Read more >>

This was not officially a Printer‘s Devilry crossword, but the typesetters seem to have contrived some devilry of their own — a typo in one clue, one clue omitted altogether, and one clue … Read more >>

Not being an expert on Azed xmas specials, can’t tell if this is par for the course or a lot harder. In any event, I needed to resort to an email friend (PB) … Read more >>

I found this one fairly straightforward, as Azeds go. A fairly low percentage of obscure words meant I wasn’t flicking through Chambers as much as I usually do (or maybe my vocabulary’s finally … Read more >>

A mixed bag of clues from Azed this week — some that were pretty easy, and a few that held me up for a while. I had to think hard about 31a, and … Read more >>

Solving time 30:50 without books, one mistake – or c. 38 mins with confirming look-ups and one correction. Mostly fairly straightforward, but there are one or two unresolved points where you may be … Read more >>

Solving time 38:18 (with Chambers and Bradford’s) I made one mistake (9ac, SOOM for SOOP) but realised when I came to do the blog, as I’d never been happy with my original answer … Read more >>

Like Jane last week I found this Azed relatively straightforward. It had the usual mix of obscure answers, obscure elements in the wordplay and tricky devices but it was scrupulously fair and so … Read more >>