Solving time: 38:32 I was all done bar two in 30 minutes, but then PHENOMENA took an extra couple of minutes for me to realise it wasn’t the Latin name for some plant or other … Read more “Times 25304 – A gentle end to the week”
Month: October 2012
Club Monthly 20145 October 2012 – Creative Edition
Solving Time: Not recorded, but this felt about averagely hard. I notice that Jason J (second in the recent Championships) completed it in 21 mins 18secs, whereas the winner took 31mins. Remarkable. The crossword itself … Read more “Club Monthly 20145 October 2012 – Creative Edition”
Times 25303 – not gender-bending
I had a show last night and didn’t get back until pretty late and was sure I couldn’t finish this and blog it before passing out. I put up a placeholder which appears to have … Read more “Times 25303 – not gender-bending”
Times Crossword 25,302 – Championship Class
Solving Time: This is crossword no. 1 from the first preliminary last Saturday. I solved it (as a spectator) on the day in about 20 minutes. It struck me at the time as slightly more … Read more “Times Crossword 25,302 – Championship Class”
Times 25,301
13:53 on the Club timer for a puzzle which was somewhere down the middle in terms of difficulty. A couple of words which are a bit off the beaten track, but which a search reveals … Read more “Times 25,301”
Times 25300 Verging on the farcical?
A puzzle which was definitely smarter than your average Monday offering, with a word at 4 across that doesn’t even make it into Oxford Dictionaries Online. Lots of good stuff, though, which took me around … Read more “Times 25300 Verging on the farcical?”
Jumbo 1001 – the one after the lord mayors show…
Bit of a step down from the cracking 1000th Jumbo, which took a lot of thinking. This seemed relatively easier and is probably a fairly standard offering. I am blogging this Sunday morning after a … Read more “Jumbo 1001 – the one after the lord mayors show…”
Mephisto 2720 by Paul McKenna – Don Meets Buzz
A very satisfying solve that I thought was on the harder side of the spectrum. I have no queries or quibbles. Across 1 REPULP – (purple)*; “do” is anagrind; 7 CALPA – C-ALP-A; about=A; a … Read more “Mephisto 2720 by Paul McKenna – Don Meets Buzz”
Sunday Times 4507 (14 Oct 2012) by Tim Moorey
Solving time: 57:11 with one wrong I really struggled with this one. There were several clues I didn’t understand until post-solve. And 6d I effectively gave up on, throwing in any old thing just to … Read more “Sunday Times 4507 (14 Oct 2012) by Tim Moorey”
Saturday Times 25293 (13th Oct)
Solving time 20:28 – should’ve been a bit quicker but I carelessly bunged in SADDLE BAG for 15D, which really threw me and stopped me getting the two long answers for a few minutes. Apart … Read more “Saturday Times 25293 (13th Oct)”