Observer

Azed 2241

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A plain Azed this week with its usual precise cluing leading to a mix of common and obscure words.       I was held up for a while with the misdirection at … Read more >>

AZED 2,240

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Some difficult wordplays to decode (e.g. 15A, 22D) with a typical rate of Big Red Book consultations.  About medium for an Azed I’d say.   Still would like some enlightenment below. Enlightenment provided by Norman and Sidey (thanks!)

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Azed 2239 ‘Spoonerisms’

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In a way (but only a way) my heart sank when I saw what I was going to have to blog: Azed’s specials are always excellent but take ages and are often very complicated. I was unsure that I’d be able to cope, but it’s all done now and any mistakes have now been made, I’m afraid.

It’s a long preamble, which I won’t repeat, except to say that there are two types of clue, occurring in more or less equal numbers. In half of them (and in these clues I’ve put (D) by the answer) you have to define the answer by finding a spoonerism in the clue. In the other half, which I found more difficult, certainly at the start — I had about ten of the first type before I got any of this type — the clue leads to a spoonerism of the answer, which is always a word in Chambers. So in these cases the answer isn’t actually defined and perhaps that’s what makes it so difficult to get started on them. In the first case the subsidiary indication is normal and in the second it leads to the actual word in the answer, not the spoonerism of it.

Really good.  Definitions underlined.

Azed 2238

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After my run of specials, it’s almost a relief to have “just” a Plain Azed to blog. I didn’t get off too lightly, though: I did about three-quarters of this quite quickly and … Read more >>

AZED 2,237

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I found this tricky and needed some electronic help to get the last couple of solutions after spending a few days failing to finish unaided.  I thought there was a huge amount of interesting stuff in here, both cruciverbally and factually.  Very enjoyable indeed, one of the most interesting AZEDs I have blogged.  Thank you AZED.

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Everyman 3575/12 April

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Everyman was my route into solving cryptics, so I always get pleasure from blogging his puzzles in an attempt to help new and improving solvers.  I think I have pinned everything down here, … Read more >>