Solving Time: About 40 minutes Not too tricky with some good clues contained herein. I particularly liked 1a & 8d, but the misleading cryptic def at 13d gets my COD. cd = cryptic def., dd … Read more “Sunday Times 4604 (24 Aug 2014) by Jeff Pearce”
Month: August 2014
Mephisto 2187 – Don Manley
Quick start but a slow finish on this one – I started doodling in answers during rehearsal and managed to get about half of it out without recourse to a dictionary. Then things ground to … Read more “Mephisto 2187 – Don Manley”
Times Jumbo 1105 (16 Aug 2014)
Solving time: About two hours. I found this quite tricky with some well-disguised definitions. Apologies for the late blog, but I’ve been holidaying in Wales for the last week and I’m trying to catch up … Read more “Times Jumbo 1105 (16 Aug 2014)”
Saturday Times 25873 (23rd August)
Solving time 18:30, so it must have been tricky in places. My leaky memory tells me most of the top half went in pretty quickly and I hit a wall further down, but going over … Read more “Saturday Times 25873 (23rd August)”
Quick Cryptic Number 125 by Mara
Another eminently solvable puzzle for learners like me, in which most of the word play is straightforward. A couple of answers (17dn & 19ac) required a bit more thought on my part, but there is … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 125 by Mara”
Times 25,878: A Patsy Complexion
Really enjoyed this puzzle, which, and I must stress I have no definite knowledge here, seemed to me bear the stylistic hallmarks of our esteemed editor. Whoever the craftsperson responsible, I hope you agreed with … Read more “Times 25,878: A Patsy Complexion”
Club Monthly 20167 – August 2014
Solving Time – You know, I think I might give up quoting solving times for the Club Monthly. They are not as relevant as they are for the daily cryptic, and lately I have developed … Read more “Club Monthly 20167 – August 2014”
Times Quick Cryptic No 124 by Tracy
Solving time: Straightforward Greetings everyone. Today we have a puzzle by Tracy which is one that should delight the newer solvers. It’s reasonably straightforward and should not cause too much hassle, although a couple of … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 124 by Tracy”
Times 25877 – looking for a miracle
Solving time : well, after 23 minutes, and almost 10 of them trying to figure out what on earth the answer to 23 down was, I put in a guess and find it is incorrect. … Read more “Times 25877 – looking for a miracle”
Times 25876 – much to 11ac on
After a poor night’s sleep with one less molar after yesterday’s appointment, this took me a scary 38 minutes and at times I wondered if it was going to be my ‘nemesis blog’, having had … Read more “Times 25876 – much to 11ac on”