Solving time : well now I’m nervous, just before writing this up I looked at the solution over on fifteensquared of the other popular barred-grid Sunday puzzle and found that I’d fallen into both (probably … Read more “Mephisto 2623: Mike Laws”
Month: December 2010
TLS 856 (19 November) – kan’t spell!
Solving time: 30:00 (3 wrong) There are times when I feel I’m completely losing my grip. With A—A-Y-S- in place, I failed to see APOCALYPSE, despite wondering at one point whether the “white horseman” might … Read more “TLS 856 (19 November) – kan’t spell!”
Saturday Times 24712 (4th Dec)
Quite tricky, around 20 minutes I think, solved in a couple of sessions as I was interrupted half-way through. Three of the perimeter entries went in quickly, but 10D took longer as I thought the … Read more “Saturday Times 24712 (4th Dec)”
Times 24717
Solving time: 61 mins. Nothing too difficult, I don’t think. The only assistance I needed was to look up Mr Smollett’s first name. I’d been staring at the NW corner for about 10 minutes, unable … Read more “Times 24717”
Jumbo 899 – 27th Nov 2010
This puzzle was a cracker, one of the best ever. Almost every clue has something admirable in it. If you haven’t solved it, get it printed out and have a go – I promise you won’t … Read more “Jumbo 899 – 27th Nov 2010”
Times 24716 – In The Hot Seat
What a challenging puzzle this is. The variety and sheer complexity of the cryptic devices used almost overwhelmed me and I felt I was in the hot seat, both metaphorically and physically. Yes, I have … Read more “Times 24716 – In The Hot Seat”
24715
Solving time: 8:23 This felt harder work than the time might suggest, so maybe I was in good form today – I finished faster than one or two people on the Club leaderboard who have … Read more “24715”
Times 24714
12:22 on the Club timer, which confirms my feeling that this was pretty straightforward. A couple of not especially common words were clued so precisely that I don’t think they’ll undo too many people; and … Read more “Times 24714”
Times 24713 – Vocabulary test today!
Solving time: 45 minutes Music: Ravel, Daphnis and Chloe, Monteux/LSO This was a bit on the challenging side, requiring good general knowledge and some tricky clue parsing. There are some easy clues that let you … Read more “Times 24713 – Vocabulary test today!”
ST 4409 (Sun 28 Nov) – Brief encounter
Solving time: 5:29 One faulty clue (19ac), as ever, plus an incorrect enumeration (1ac), but otherwise a very good puzzle. * = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’. Across 1 UPPERCUT; [s]UPPER + CUT[e] – … Read more “ST 4409 (Sun 28 Nov) – Brief encounter”