Solved in 16:50 online but with a classic overhasty solver’s cock-up which you’ll be reading about soon. Across 1 CHAT = talk, HAM = act extravagantly – William Pitt was the First Earl of Chatham, … Read more “Jumbo 895”
Month: November 2010
Times 24692 – kNICKers in a twist
Quite a challenging puzzle with many new words for me which required references to my trusty Chambers. But I was stuck inordinately long at the north-east corner when I hastily inked in NICK as a … Read more “Times 24692 – kNICKers in a twist”
24691 – Championship Preliminary Round 2, Puzzle 1
Apologies for the marginal lateness of this – a BT network outage, though one that was fixed just after I’d finished typing – inevitable when you’ve sent a text message and warned about a sub … Read more “24691 – Championship Preliminary Round 2, Puzzle 1”
Times 24690
Timed at 9:59, for a puzzle which was nearly all straightforward. One plant, which, as usual, I hazarded a (confident) guess at from wordplay rather than green-fingered experience, and one use of a less obvious … Read more “Times 24690”
Times 24689 – All you need are wings and a Nagra
Solving time: 34 minutes Music: The Owl Service, A Garland of Song I thought this one would be another Monday trot as I filled in half of it in ten minutes, but the remainder proved … Read more “Times 24689 – All you need are wings and a Nagra”
Mephisto 2618 by Tim Moorey
Another interesting puzzle of average level of difficulty. It pays to spend a little time solving 1A because that opens up the whole grid. As it happens I saw the anagram immediately and quickly had … Read more “Mephisto 2618 by Tim Moorey”
ST 4405 (Sun 31 Oct) – Winston vogue art
Solving time: 5:49 Despite one or two cringes (e.g. 17dn) I thought lots of the clues in this puzzle were pretty good, although I can’t explain 9ac at all. (Yes, I know it’s really pronounced … Read more “ST 4405 (Sun 31 Oct) – Winston vogue art”
Saturday Times 24682 (30th Oct)
Solving time 15:19, although it was probably easier than that. I only got two of the 14-letter answers early on and wasted a couple of minutes trying to get the other two before looking at … Read more “Saturday Times 24682 (30th Oct)”
TLS 852 (15 October 2010)
Solving time: about 25 minutes (3 wrong) Oh dear! Perhaps if I’d thought harder, I might have ended up all correct, but I made two unforced errors (missing MONSARRAT and SUSS), and although I didn’t … Read more “TLS 852 (15 October 2010)”
Times 24687 – Still No Stinker!
I thought I was heading for a sub 30 minute solve which would be quite good for me but I got a bit tied up in the NW with 9, 2, 4 and 11, and … Read more “Times 24687 – Still No Stinker!”