I found this hard at first and didn’t make much headway until I’d cracked a couple of the long downs. Azed’s tech-knowledge surprised me a bit — so much so that I resisted both tech-centric answers until I could do so no longer.
Observer
AZED 2,227
As usual everything (with the possible exception of 25dn) is quite simple but very complicated since the words are so difficult. Hence many of these clues can be explained in one short statement.
Definitions underlined
Azed 2226 – Playfair
I’m glad to see I’m not the only blogger who gets worried when landing on a Playfair puzzle. “I admit to a slight feeling of trepidation when I … noticed that it was … Read more >>
Everyman 3,565
The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3565.
Everyman 3,564
A pleasing crossword, with a couple that bewildered me.
AZED 2,225
A fine selection of obscure words from AZED, very enjoyable to track them all down.
AZED 2,224
A harder than usual puzzle from Azed this week, with a 13 by 11 grid, including a higher than average number of & lit clues.
Everyman 3563/18 January
Another well-crafted and enjoyable puzzle from Everyman this morning, with some particularly pleasing surface readings. Abbreviations cd cryptic definition dd double definition (xxxx)* anagram anagrind = anagram indicator [x] letter(s) … Read more >>
Everyman 3,562
Seemed to be the easiest Everyman I’ve done for a while but took a while to be convinced by one piece of parsing. Thanks Everyman. Across 1 Is numb, I suspect, in exploration vessel (7) … Read more >>
Azed 2223
Azed has given us another masterclass in precise clueing Solving an Azed crossword is always a good source of general knowledge, although whether I will use much of it outside … Read more >>
Everyman 3,561
The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3561.
AZED 2,222
I solved this rather quickly (for me) and didn’t find myself abusing Chambers. A relatively healthy number of &lits but I struggled to understand the definition of DAFT until an email friend helped me out of my misery.
Everyman 3,560
A steady-as-she-goes Everyman puzzle, with not too much to alarm (or thrill), but a good collection of clues at the shallow end of the pool.
AZED 2,221
Something very odd has happened this week. The paper and originally the website printed a totally irrelevant clue for 20ac, with Azed’s clue provided (hastily?) after a day or two. Also the website had some extraordinary glitches: it put (5) (5) after 25ac, (7) (7) after 18dn, and (6) (6) after 22dn. Also, 10dn was given as (7) instead of (5), and — at any rate by Tuesday — this hadn’t been corrected.
Which didn’t detract from the usual pleasant solving experience. Everything was straightforward enough and it was obvious what the mistakes were. Azed’s clues are in retrospect nearly always easy to solve: they are difficult simply because they use words that are, to say the least, outside one’s normal experience. This doesn’t take away from their quality, though.
As usual some dictionary research will be needed by you, dear reader, if you are to understand eveything about all the clues. I have underlined the definitions.