A lovely Spring morning here in deepest Suffolk, a spot of gardening (ok I was coerced by Mrs Flashling) & then the crossword.
Observer
Azed 2287
The usual Azed. A whole lot of rare words (how does he know them?) all accurately clued and perfectly straightforward once one has the answer, although getting it in the first place is … Read more >>
Azed 2286
Apologies for the slightly delayed appearance of this blog – I had made a start on it last Sunday and then completely forgot about it. Fairly average on the Azed difficulty scale, I … Read more >>
Everyman 3,625
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3625.
Everyman 3,624
Am I more stupid than normal…?
AZED 2,285 – Give & Take
Hard! Normally I manage to finish AZED with just a paper copy of Chambers for aid. It may take more than one sitting but I get there in a reasonable amount of time. Not this week. I gave up trying to solve unaided early on and even using electronic aids I really struggled. At times I was basically cheating as I was trawling the web for information and using all sorts of word-search programs to try and make progress. Towards the end things got a little easier as the number of checking letters allowed me to revert to a more straightforward approach. Thank you AZED for a great challenge.
AZED 2,284
A very straightforward plain Azed this week.
Everyman 3623
Fine puzzle from Everyman. Some delightful surface readings; good variety of clue types; no obscurities; solver-friendly grid. Not much to be grumpy about, is there? Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd … Read more >>
Everyman 3,622
Another Sunday another Everyman for you all.
Azed 2283
This puzzle was published on the first Sunday of the month so it’s an Azed competition puzzle, but it’s a plain one I didn’t find anything particularly difficult in what … Read more >>
AZED 2,282
A surprisingly easy Azed — which I completed in a single session with only occasional recourse to TBRB — relatively speaking not too many Scots words or Spenserisms.
Everyman 3,621
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3621.
Everyman 3,620
Hello, from an overcast North London.
AZED 2,281
I always cheat when doing Azed. In a normal daily cryptic this would be unforgivable until perhaps the very end when one is stuck, but with Azed I always say to myself that the words are so weird that one needs help. You may say that I should persevere and try to do it all from the wordplay and only then look up the word to see if it exists, and yes I do sometimes do that, but the wordplay itself also often makes reference to some impossible words and I’d never get anywhere. At least I would. but it would take me about ten times as long as I normally spend.
As always everything, with its neat clueing, is perfectly clear after the event.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.
Everyman 3619/14 February
A Valentine’s Day puzzle from Everyman. Apologies for the late appearance of this, but I was busy on the 14th being romanced by shedloads of attractive and rich fifty-something divorcees, which took my … Read more >>