Observer

Azed No. 2,526 Plain

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A mostly straightforward puzzle this week, although I am missing one parsing. I can’t parse 27 dn, but apart from that, this effort didn’t pose too many difficulties, which has more to do … Read more >>

Azed 2525

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A fairly typical Azed experience for me on this one, with most of the answers going in fairly quickly and a few stragglers holding out longer. It’s always good to solve a long … Read more >>

Everyman 3,864

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3864. Much as we have come to expect from Everyman, including the rhyming pair at 3D and 11D, and the ‘primarily’ clue at 6A. There are a … Read more >>

Everyman 3,863

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The Observer crossword from Oct 25, 2020 Enjoyable stuff again, although not squeaky-clean. Even a bit dotty because Everyman gives us no less than four clues-with-dots. Unfortunately, I don’t really see the need … Read more >>

Azed No. 2,524 Plain

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Plenty of familiar words in here for me, but I didn’t find it much easier than the obscure offerings. Thank you Azed. ACROSS 1 CHLORDAN Something to zap bugs after hospital peer kept … Read more >>

Azed No. 2,523 Plain

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A very straightforward plain Azed this week, after the previous week’s Carte Blanche. A puzzle whose references span from Greek mythology to Radio 4. As always, I learned something from my explorations into … Read more >>

Everyman 3,862/18 October

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My sense when solving and blogging this one was that it was rather clunky, with some overlong surfaces. Your experience may have differed, of course.       Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd … Read more >>

Azed 2522

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A carte blanche puzzle for us this week       Sometimes Carte Blanche puzzles require a lot of cold solving before the grid starts to fit together, but this one fell into … Read more >>

Everyman 3,861

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Everyman as usual: a bit untidy in places but a fun solve. Those who don’t like contrived or wordy surfaces and imprecise definitions may be a little irritated – though no more than … Read more >>

Everyman 3,860

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3860. Another Everyman with the trademark ‘primarily’ clue (reverting to form after last week’s variant), a weakish rhyming pair, and a bunch of &lits, all a little … Read more >>

Everyman 3,859

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The Observer crossword from 27 Sept, 2020 A generally typical Everyman puzzle for which, however, I needed a (short) second sitting to finish the SE corner. It looks like Everyman said goodbye to … Read more >>

Azed No. 2,520 Plain

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I finished the puzzle, but there are a few unparsed. Cards on the table – I printed the puzzle off last Sunday and left it sitting beside the printer until Saturday evening, thus … Read more >>

Everyman 3,858/20 September

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Another pleasing Sunday puzzle from Everyman, with the usual features: the ‘primarily’ clue, the paired long rhyming couplet, and the Grauniad misprint to confuse newer solvers.       Abbreviations cd cryptic definition … Read more >>

Azed 2519

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I was close to giving this up as unfinished, thanks to a mistaken entry at 29a, but managed to recover. The time I spent on that has rather obscured my memory of the … Read more >>