Solving time: Very straightforward. Morning all Firstly apologies for being missing a week longer than expected. I returned from a fabulous holiday to find my revamped flat a little more revamped than I thought and … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 153 by Hurley”
Month: October 2014
Times 25913 – where’s my car?
Solving time : 9:26 on the club timer, so that stinker I predicted yesterday did not come today. I suspect there will be faster times than mine, as I didn’t see a few of the … Read more “Times 25913 – where’s my car?”
Quick Cryptic 153 by Teazel
Cricket, nudity and a bit of twitching – a Somerset lad’s big day out! Really enjoyed this offering: loads of wit and sparkle, and many thanks to our setter Teazel. Plenty of jokey double and … Read more “Quick Cryptic 153 by Teazel”
Times 25912
I’ve been off duty for a couple of weeks (thanks Jerry for subbing) so was relieved to find this a straightforward and pleasant solve top-down in twenty minutes; the last two or three of which … Read more “Times 25912”
Quick Cryptic No 152 by Izetti
Another enjoyable workout (in 10 minutes). The maze-maker and retreat may be unfamiliar to some but one joy of cryptic crosswords is working out an answer you may not have heard of and learning something … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 152 by Izetti”
Times 25,911
18:37 for an interesting puzzle: while I was doing it, I thought it was elegantly clued and on the distinctly tricky side of average. Then I came to write the blog, and thought perhaps I’d … Read more “Times 25,911”
Times 25910 – Who needs Gibraltar?
This was gentilisimo. I’m expecting single-digit scores from those warming up for the champs. 25 minutes para mi. Switching to cose Italiane, it behoves me to affirm that, contrary to indications, Umberto Eco is neither … Read more “Times 25910 – Who needs Gibraltar?”
Quick Cryptic 151 by Joker
12 minutes for this mostly excellent puzzle which is not all easy by any standards. I noticed quite a few adverse comments about the difficulty of some puzzles last week – Friday’s in particular – … Read more “Quick Cryptic 151 by Joker”
Jumbo 1111 – September 20th – “ME NO UNDER-STANDEE”
Strange one this, where one clue (8D) felt like it took about as long as the whole rest put together. The clues all went in quite quickly, and then I stared at S-A-D-E for ages. … Read more “Jumbo 1111 – September 20th – “ME NO UNDER-STANDEE””
Mephisto 2822 by Paul McKenna
A gentle Mephisto that shouldn’t cause too many problems to experienced solvers Across 1 ATAP – A-TAP; bug=TAP (phones); leaves used for thatching; 6 ESTOCS – (th)E-(SCOTS reversed); short swords; 11 HAVE,A,POP,AT – HAVE-A-PO-PAT; narrow-minded=PO; … Read more “Mephisto 2822 by Paul McKenna”