Solving time: 18 minutes. By no means difficult this morning; though it was hard to know which answers to omit. Thought there was some complex math(s) going on at 15 but it turns out to … Read more “Times 24870: Every 18 has a cloud … 1ac 21 that!”
Month: June 2011
Mike Laws Memorial Mephisto 1909
This is the second Mike Laws Memorial Puzzle that appeared in the paper last Sunday 5th June. It originally appeared as puzzle number 1909. Whereas I didn’t remember the 1894 puzzle I do recall this … Read more “Mike Laws Memorial Mephisto 1909”
Mike Laws Memorial Mephisto 1894
This is the first Mike Laws Memorial Puzzle that appeared in the paper last Sunday 5th June. It originally appeared as puzzle number 1894. I do hope that those of you who have solved Mike’s … Read more “Mike Laws Memorial Mephisto 1894”
Times 24,869 – What ho! I have seen the fnords!
Timed at 10:45, which sugggests a straightforward solve, especially as it was done late at night after returning from a long day out. I had a big rush of answers at the beginning and then, … Read more “Times 24,869 – What ho! I have seen the fnords!”
Times 24868 – Just horsing around
Solving time: 36 minutes Music: Trees, Garden of Jane Delawney A rather vanilla puzzle, this one should not have been much of a challenge. However, a serious mental lapse held me up in the NW … Read more “Times 24868 – Just horsing around”
Mephisto 2648 by Paul McKenna
This is a very straightforward puzzle that barely required a Chambers for solving. Today The Times carries a tribute to Mike Laws. There are three of his old puzzles plus a special tribute puzzle composed … Read more “Mephisto 2648 by Paul McKenna”
Sunday Times 4435 (29 May 2011)
Solving time: I don’t know – a long time. Maybe an hour and a half before resorting to aids for the last 3 or 4, and I still got one wrong! After my son’s half … Read more “Sunday Times 4435 (29 May 2011)”
Saturday Times 24861 (May 28th)
Solving time 15:05, so about average. Mostly straightforward, although there were a couple of very convoluted wordplays that took ages to decipher (e.g. 14ac, 25ac). Across 1 ARABIC – A + RA(b)BI (scholar disheartened) + … Read more “Saturday Times 24861 (May 28th)”
Times 24866
This took me 40 minutes but I think I can knock off 5 of those for being on blog duty and feeling the need to double-check everything before committing to paper. Certainly it felt like … Read more “Times 24866”
Jumbo 926 – The report is only marginally more interesting than the placeholder was!
Yet another fairly straightforward jumbo, I have omitted the majority of the definitions as they are very clearly signposted. Really very little to add, so apologies for the brevity of some of the explanations. Across … Read more “Jumbo 926 – The report is only marginally more interesting than the placeholder was!”