42 minutes, the last 10 or so being in the northwest cluster 1,2,3dn and 1,17ac. I struggled a bit with this but, after summarising the clues, I can’t really see why. I found it a little … Read more “Jumbo 869 – 01 May 2010”
Month: May 2010
Times 24536 – Short Simple & Sweet
Coming back from a week of no crossword while visiting Shanghai, it took me quite a while (nearly an hour) to get into the groove. Nevertheless, it was quite fun especially the superb 3S (short, … Read more “Times 24536 – Short Simple & Sweet”
24535 – not exactly L for leather
Solving time 17:04, late last night. I think this is down to crafty clue-writing rather than late-night dimness but may be proved wrong … Across 1 UNCOORDINATED – RD.=way, in (education, on)* – time wasted … Read more “24535 – not exactly L for leather”
Times 24,534
Around 25 minutes, for a puzzle which I would describe as punching above its weight i.e. with a lot of clues where I could see what I was being asked to do but took a … Read more “Times 24,534”
Sick as a Parrot on a Box
Blog will appear presently. edit: Proper blog for 24,534 is now posted above. I just wanted to vent at the continuing uselessness of the Crossword Club. I solved the puzzle late last night before going … Read more “Sick as a Parrot on a Box”
Times 24533 – Och, there’s a moose in the hoose
Solving Time: 40 odd minutes Mostly the answers flowed straight from eye to pen, but I was eventually inordinately delayed in the SE corner and defeated in the SW by an elk. What more can … Read more “Times 24533 – Och, there’s a moose in the hoose”
ST 4379 (Sun 2 May) – Hung up
Solving time: about 5 mins A reasonable puzzle with a few quibbles here and there, mostly with regard to the cryptic ‘grammar’ of the clues, but no actual mistakes that I saw. There are a … Read more “ST 4379 (Sun 2 May) – Hung up”
Mephisto 2592 – Paul McKenna
On a cold and miserable bank holiday weekend when the AZED competition puzzle was very straightforward I gratefully found this quite difficult. I have one query at 11A where I can’t see the full parsing. … Read more “Mephisto 2592 – Paul McKenna”
Times Saturday 24526 (May 1st)
Solving time 18:28, plus about 5 minutes. I started looking at it last Saturday, but had only entered about half a dozen answers in the first 5 minutes when I had to leave it. I … Read more “Times Saturday 24526 (May 1st)”
TLS 829 (16th April) – scraped home!
Solving time – about 2 weeks in the end! After about half an hour I had most of it solved without aids – 12A, 19D and the whole of the SW corner were all I … Read more “TLS 829 (16th April) – scraped home!”