Solving time : 25 time minutes Another very pleasant but also rather easy puzzle. The more obscure words like “jabot” were very easy to get from the wordplay. I had trouble with the structure of … Read more “Times 23787”
Month: December 2007
Mephisto 2467 – Mike Laws
I found this one a very rewarding slog, took three sittings to complete and the last one was an extensive cross-referencing of Chambers to sort out the NE corner. As usual with the Mephisto, a … Read more “Mephisto 2467 – Mike Laws”
Times 23786 – Silly words that can mean anything
Solving time: 49mins Some good fun today. I enjoyed seeing PING-PONG, SINGSONG, DING-DONG and KING KONG drop out. I think that’s the lot, although I did keep thinking of the recurring Lazytown song ‘Bing Bang … Read more “Times 23786 – Silly words that can mean anything”
ST 4254 (Sun 9 Dec) – Raisa sharp
Solving time: lost, but I think it was about 5 mins. I think 9ac was the most time-consuming entry as I was looking for an alternative. Thanks very much to Peter for blogging last Sunday … Read more “ST 4254 (Sun 9 Dec) – Raisa sharp”
Times Saturday 23779 (Dec 08)
I forgot to note down my solving time for this, but I seem to remember it was about 16 minutes-ish. Quite good for me considering the sometimes tortuous wordplay! Doing the blog at the unholy … Read more “Times Saturday 23779 (Dec 08)”
Times Jumbo 729
Solving time: 27:22 This was a quick time for me for a Jumbo. Fairly straightforward puzzle with a some pretty good clues and very little to complain about. Across 1 TAPSTER (Plonk in TASTER??) – I presume this … Read more “Times Jumbo 729”
23,784 – Authors aplenty
Not too difficult for this book lover, with a string of mainly two word clues, including ‘author’. Solving time: 25 mins * = anagram < = reversed Across 5 HO (RN) P I PE Very … Read more “23,784 – Authors aplenty”
Times 23783 – I’ve got the subtraction blues
Solving time : 39 minutes, and the last 10 of that poring through dictionaries to find the mysterious last few words. There was a lot here that was new to me, usually literature and art … Read more “Times 23783 – I’ve got the subtraction blues”
23,782 – a drinker’s puzzle?
Solving time 7:05 Good initial progress, then slowed down for my last three answers – 19, 11 and 8 in that order. COD is 24D unless someone is certain that it’s been used before. Various … Read more “23,782 – a drinker’s puzzle?”
Times 23781 – Pat and Patel
A tale of two halves. Below the belt was pretty easy but the top half was quite a struggle — the NW corner had two or three intersecting obscurities (PIBROCH, PASTEL, ELIOT). And as is … Read more “Times 23781 – Pat and Patel”