Solving Time: 19 minutes Another Monday morning stroll with a nostalgic air. Lot’s of old favourites, a bit of cricket, an instance of Shakespeare and some pre-agrarian revolution dirt. Without further ado, it’s… Across 1 … Read more “Times 24784 – Hello sailor”
Month: February 2011
Sunday Times 4421 (20 Feb 2011)
Solving time: About 35-40 minutes, with one wrong. I had 6 left after 25 minutes, which I took another 10-15 minutes to pick off a bit later on. I did myself no favours by throwing … Read more “Sunday Times 4421 (20 Feb 2011)”
Mephisto 2634 by Paul McKenna
The second puzzle in a row to be on the hard side of average without being fiendish. I thoroughly enjoyed wrestling with it. Oddly I was off to a good start with the first three … Read more “Mephisto 2634 by Paul McKenna”
Saturday Times 24777 (19th Feb)
Solving time 24:20, which makes this one a bit harder than average. A really good puzzle though, full of inventive and witty definitions and clever wordplay – some of which I hadn’t worked out until … Read more “Saturday Times 24777 (19th Feb)”
Club Monthly 20125 – February 2011
Solving Time: Not too bad this time, a little bit under the hour in two sessions. Apologies if this blog is a bit briefer than usual, it is being launched from sunny Qatar where I … Read more “Club Monthly 20125 – February 2011”
24782 – More like DT
Unaccountably this took me 40 minutes to solve and having now written the blog I am completely baffled as to why. Apart from 16ac which has relatively complicated wordplay and the answer is an unfamiliar … Read more “24782 – More like DT”
Jumbo 911 – the abridged (botched) analysis
Sorry about the scantness of this – I opened my file this morning and pasted it into the site, only to realise that I hadnt saved the write up at the end, but literally after … Read more “Jumbo 911 – the abridged (botched) analysis”
Times 24781: Who do you think you are kidding, Mr. Hitler?
Solving time : 19:52, with a couple of distractions, but when I hit submit the Times is telling me that I have two wrong. One typo I can see quite clearly, but the other is … Read more “Times 24781: Who do you think you are kidding, Mr. Hitler?”
Times 24780: 2/4 alive, twice dead
Solving time: 28 minutes. The time could probably have been shorter, as I let the clock tick on while I made coffee. So I suspect we’ll get some crackers today. One day I’ll get around … Read more “Times 24780: 2/4 alive, twice dead”
Times 24,779 You Need Flare
Solving time 20 minutes Reasonably straightforward puzzle spoiled a little by the rather weak clue to the long central down light. 1A may cause some problems with “source of report” as the definition for a … Read more “Times 24,779 You Need Flare”