Everyman 4,100

A pleasant crossword this week from Everyman. No great problems and any (only very occasional and slight) grumble is mentioned in the blog. Nearly 30% of the answers are four-letter words, which are often (but not in this case) tricky; not perhaps the best of grids.

Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (homophones, of which there were more than usual, reversals, anagrams, first letters, juxtapositions, etc.) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in green.

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Azed 2758

A new proprietor, a new interactive interface, but the same reliable Azed. It feels as if there are fewer familiar words than usual, but despite that I managed to fill the grid fairly quickly. On the other hand, some of the parsing was a bit tricky, with 32 down proving elusive until the 11th hour. Thanks to Azed for the puzzle, and best wishes to those attending the lunch in Oxford today yesterday, which I’m I was sadly unable to attend on this occasion.

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Everyman 4,097/27 April

New owner, same crossword, same setter … a big day for The Observer, but what looks like for now the same Everyman crossword that has been in the paper for the last 80 years, compiled by a number of setters but always intended as a tractable Sunday cryptic. Who knows if things will change, but for now let’s see what this week’s puzzle had to offer.

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