Solving time: 11:35 and I’ve already been overtaken on the leaderboard, so this is on the easier side. I was held up for a long time by the well-concealed definition at 4 across. I rather … Read more “Times 25853 – it’s on the tip of my tongue”
Month: July 2014
Times Quick Cryptic No. 104 by Mara
The button seems to be okay, but in case of difficulty here’s the url: http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20140731/227/ I’m standing in for Macavity today. 17 minutes for this one. I’ve given up trying to predict the level of … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No. 104 by Mara”
Quick Cryptic No. 103 by Izetti
Greetings from Paris, where Mrs. Novice and I are currently holidaying in a charming appartment in the heart of the Marais. The holiday mood (coupled with a significant intake of Cotes du Rhone) probably impacted … Read more “Quick Cryptic No. 103 by Izetti”
Times 25852 – not a 10 ac by any means
The LHS went in smootly and the two long across clues followed, I thought I was going to get off lightly and set a hot time, but the NE corner took longer; 37 minutes in … Read more “Times 25852 – not a 10 ac by any means”
New blogging vacancy, and a sub request
Dorsetjimbo was one of our earlier recruits in 2007 (not a founder member, but possibly the longest-serving now apart from myself?), and has decided to finally hang up his blogging boots (well, for the Daily … Read more “New blogging vacancy, and a sub request”
Times 25,851
17:59, with by far the majority of that spent in the Southern Central section of the grid. I thought some of the vocabulary was a little unusual, though today’s driving tour of the Roadworks of … Read more “Times 25,851”
Quick Cryptic No 102 by Flamande
After all the access problems yesterday here’s today’s puzzle: http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20140729/225/It feels like a medium one to me with many easy clues and generally pretty get-able – my time being 12ish minutes. Apart from an internal … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 102 by Flamande”
Times 25850 – Biological charades
31 minutes for a very nice Monday offering with just enough to keep the seasoned solver honest. When was the last time a puzzle had five hyphenated double-word clues, all in the acrosses? Oh, and … Read more “Times 25850 – Biological charades”
Times Quick Cryptic 101 by Hurley
As we might have expected, the button to today’s puzzle is broken and indeed our friends at SNAFU Central have excelled themselves by linking it back to puzzle #5 as published in March. Here’s the … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 101 by Hurley”
Mephisto 2812 by Tim Moorey
A puzzle of average difficulty that is just missing a “J” to be a pangram. I liked 6D. Across 1 SANDPIPER – S-AND-PIPER; section=S; once used in the daily as a supposed homophone for “sandpaper”; … Read more “Mephisto 2812 by Tim Moorey”