Solving time 14:02. Not a particularly difficult puzzle, but the surface readings were very smooth throughout, which occasionally made parsing the cryptic elements harder. COD to 24ac, but 1ac and 26ac also deserve a mention. … Read more “Saturday Times 24813 (2nd April)”
Month: April 2011
24818 – Gone to the dogs?
I completed all of this bar three in 35 minutes but took another 20 to finish it off. The sticking points were the interlocking obscurities at 1ac and 2dn and having only vowels as checkers … Read more “24818 – Gone to the dogs?”
Times 24817 – hooly dooly!
Solving time : My online submission in 17:56 comes back with three errors. In fact at this point there is not yet a fully correct online solution. So hopefully I’ll fix typos or see what … Read more “Times 24817 – hooly dooly!”
Times 15493: Substitute … me for him
Solving time: see below. This is a substitute puzzle because 24816 is the 2nd Qualifier for the 2011 Championship. I’ll blog the latter on 13th April when the competition closes. Did both puzzles simultaneously in … Read more “Times 15493: Substitute … me for him”
Times 24,815 Average Fare
Solving time 20 minutes Largely straightforward artisan’s puzzle with no real obscurities or major gripes and a smattering of good clues. Across 1 TIPPLE – TIP-P(L)E; piece of advice=TIP; gym=gymnastic=PE; “the usual” is the rather … Read more “Times 24,815 Average Fare”
Times 24814 – Suitable for beginners?
Solving time:23 minutes Music: Symphony #4, Horenstein/LSO This was an unusually easy puzzle that only caused me a little trouble. I couldn’t see a couple of obvious ones in the SE, and got held up … Read more “Times 24814 – Suitable for beginners?”
Mephisto 2639 – Paul McKenna
I’ve already printed out this week’s Mephisto and noticed there’s a little bit of a change – there appears to be an email for entries. I assume they’ll take a scanned grid, since they’ve taken … Read more “Mephisto 2639 – Paul McKenna”
Sunday Times 4426 (27 Mar 2011) – Normal Sunday service has been resumed?
Solving time: Hard to judge. I did this in bits and pieces in five or ten minute sections. But I would guess well over an hour and a half. This was certainly much harder than … Read more “Sunday Times 4426 (27 Mar 2011) – Normal Sunday service has been resumed?”
Saturday Times 24807 (26th March)
Solving time 14:13. Interesting puzzle, with a few unusual slang words perfectly clued so that anyone who didn’t know them could still solve them. The rest was fairly straightforward, but I have no complaints. Shame … Read more “Saturday Times 24807 (26th March)”
An invitation
I’ve been contacted by Dr. Kathryn Friedlander from the University of Buckingham, who’s doing research into solvers of cryptic crosswords. She’s looking for volunteers willing to solve a few puzzles and be interviewed. Her email … Read more “An invitation”