Solving time: 20:40 For me the third easy-ish day in a row — though some won’t agree about Monday. (Stinker for George tomorrow? Though, if so, I’m sure he’ll polish it off with his usual … Read more “Times 25098: Don’t come the uncooked crustacean with me”
Month: February 2012
Times 25,097
A reasonably straightforward 19 minutes. Some pleasing wordplay (“action in court”, “charming female”) and several sporting allusions, including 25 across, which might suggest this puzzle was compiled during England’s most recent Test series. Across 1 … Read more “Times 25,097”
Times 25096 – Fair thee well?
Solving Time: 58 minutes I had one of those mornings where I seriously believed they had printed the wrong clues for the grid. Nothing seemed to work or fit and I couldn’t parse many of … Read more “Times 25096 – Fair thee well?”
Mephisto 2686 by Tim Moorey
With so much comment flying around concerning the Saturday and Sunday ordinary cryptics, this turned out to be a middle of the road puzzle that was simply fun to solve and none the worse for … Read more “Mephisto 2686 by Tim Moorey”
Sunday Times 4473 (19 Feb 2012) – Crashed due to pilot error
Solving time: 1:11:27 There was a lot here that I found tricky, as is often the case with Dean’s puzzles, and I was never going to post a quick time, but I get stuck in … Read more “Sunday Times 4473 (19 Feb 2012) – Crashed due to pilot error”
Times Jumbo 965 (11 Feb 2012) – Stretching my vocabulary
Solving time: Just over 2 hours – with one use of aids. I didn’t find much to enjoy in this puzzle. There were a lot of words I didn’t know – REPINE, COLZA, RARA AVIS, … Read more “Times Jumbo 965 (11 Feb 2012) – Stretching my vocabulary”
Saturday Times 25089 (18th Feb)
Solving time 28:41, which seems pretty quick now, looking at the times posted on the forum! Only a minute or so behind Pete Biddlecombe will do me. There were hints last week that this was … Read more “Saturday Times 25089 (18th Feb)”
Club Monthly 20137 February 2012 – Dab or Soul?
Solving Time: I found this relatively straightforward and completed it in two goes totalling about 45 minutes. At the time of writing there are 47 correct answers on the website, which is less than usual, … Read more “Club Monthly 20137 February 2012 – Dab or Soul?”
25094 – Coochy-coo!
This one took me 45 minutes but I had some problems finishing off – as usual. A couple of really good clues (10ac and 21ac) made up for the odd duffer e.g.19 where you probably … Read more “25094 – Coochy-coo!”
Times 25093 – Pitting One’s Wit
This has got to be the most devious set of clues that I have encountered in a daily puzzle (ie not a prize puzzle) in a long long time. No quarter given, even for short … Read more “Times 25093 – Pitting One’s Wit”