Quick reminder that tomorrow’s paper (1 May) will have two puzzles – one being the second qualifier for this year’s Times Crossword Championship. These qualifiers are usually easy puzzles, so don’t get too excited if … Read more “Championship qualifier 2”
Month: April 2008
Times 23902 – wordplay goes bumph
Solving time : 26 minutes. On a first read-through of the across clues I didn’t get a single one, and I was sure we were in for a dose of impossible Thursday. I fared a … Read more “Times 23902 – wordplay goes bumph”
23901 – getting a bit more tricky
Solving time 8:54 Slower than the last couple, though I missed out on one trick for quick solving. After guessing SWEEPSTAKE from the def at 1A but not seeing the wordplay, I should have written … Read more “23901 – getting a bit more tricky”
Times 23,900 – Temporary word blindness and an old friend
As is my wont, total time a little over 20 minutes, but an inexplicably long part of that spent spotting the last two (9 down went in very slowly, after which I slapped my forehead … Read more “Times 23,900 – Temporary word blindness and an old friend”
23892 – Saturday 19th April
Solving time: unknown Solved afresh for this report. There’s lots of good stuff in this puzzle. Across 1 S(A LAD)CREAM 7 SIDE – 2 defs 9 P(R.U. D)ENCE 10 DR. ON GO – a bird … Read more “23892 – Saturday 19th April”
Times 23899
I received an email from the Crossword Club yesterday, saying that the site would be down today. I had planned to do the crossword later today, but finding it online this morning, I had a … Read more “Times 23899”
Mephisto blogging vacancy
One of our Mephisto bloggers wants to drop out. If one or more others are willing to write Mephisto blogs about once a month, drop me a line – peter at biddlecombe dot demon dot … Read more “Mephisto blogging vacancy”
Mephisto 2486 – Tim Moorey
Solving time: 76 mins, mostly with Chambers I found this considerably harder than most Mephistos, though this may just be down to luck of the draw – three or four obscurities that you happen to … Read more “Mephisto 2486 – Tim Moorey”
ST 4273 (Sun 20 Apr) – O tempora! O mores!
Solving time: 10:30 A rare gem from the Sunday Times, the like of which crops up about every three to four months. Some inspired clues, very tight wordplay and first class surface readings throughout. I’ll … Read more “ST 4273 (Sun 20 Apr) – O tempora! O mores!”
Olla podrida
This is an experimental message for the benefit of people with questions that don’t fit elsewhere, or about old postings that you don’t expect people to still be reading (specially folks doing syndicated versions of … Read more “Olla podrida”