The Grand Final puzzles and solutions are now on the Times Online site. You can find them here. Sadly, they’re picture files which print out no more than adequately (and that’s on a fairly new … Read more “2007 Times Championship final puzzles – up at last”
Month: October 2007
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 14 – your times please
This is a weekly unofficial contest based on your times for the Times cryptic crossword from Saturday to Friday. Championship puzzles and this contest Contests 13-18 will consist of five puzzles each rather than the … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 14 – your times please”
Find the K
Interesting puzzle with a few words you don’t often see in crosswords, although I was a little disappointed that, having made the effort to get X, Q and Z into the puzzle, the setter didn’t … Read more “Find the K”
23,735 – a game of two halves
Solving time: 12:51 The right hand side went fairly fast, with its easy SHRINKING VIOLET at 6D. But the clever cryptic def of AUTOBIOGRAPHIES at the other long down held me up on the left … Read more “23,735 – a game of two halves”
23734 – Championship prelim 1, puzzle 1
Solving time: about 10 minutes on the day, in two stages This puzzle included one of the clues that made me sweat a bit at Cheltenham. After completing all but one clue in this puzzle, … Read more “23734 – Championship prelim 1, puzzle 1”
Times 23733 – wipers
NE corner held me up for quite some time — not sure of overall timing since had many interrupts but total elapsed time <1h. I found 9A, 11A and 13A to be rather fiendish or … Read more “Times 23733 – wipers”
23,732 – threatened by hummingbirds
Solving time: 55m30s Off to a good start. Mostly straightforward with a few easy clues for beginners. I finished with BODY and SABREWING – I almost gave up on that the latter. I took a … Read more “23,732 – threatened by hummingbirds”
ST 4245 (Sun 7 Oct) – Sticky pricket
Solving time: 8:30 Straightforward until the end, where I was unsure of 4dn and 13ac, but as it turned out my guesses were correct. On another day I’d probably have spent a good few more … Read more “ST 4245 (Sun 7 Oct) – Sticky pricket”
Mephisto 2458/Mike Laws
Solving time: 39:27 I find Mike the hardest of the Mephisto trio, and as I was feeling lazy I used Chambers from the start for a change. The usual smattering of straightforward clues to get … Read more “Mephisto 2458/Mike Laws”
Times Saturday 23725 (Oct 6)
No report until next week, as due to the postal strike the Times have extended the deadline. I expect the same thing will happen next week too, the way things are going.