Solving time 9:08! Wow, was I on form or what! I did this around 10:30am on Saturday morning, and was amazed to find myself leading the pack (excluding a few neutrinos) on the Times leaderboard. … Read more “Saturday Times 26178 (15th Aug) – blimey!”
Month: August 2015
Times 26,183: You Can’t Wash Your Hands In A Hetero
After a short visit to the land of personal bests yesterday, I toiled my way through this one, clocking off inside the quarter hour at least but certainly not distinguishing myself. Probably because I did … Read more “Times 26,183: You Can’t Wash Your Hands In A Hetero”
Quick Cryptic No 379 by Teazel
Not the easiest of quickies, it took me ten minutes or so but I had to duck and dive around the grid, not just write them in from top to bottom. Only two anagrams today … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 379 by Teazel”
Times Quick Cryptic No 378 by Joker – Sum fun!
Morning all! Solving time: Reasonable. We have Joker along today with a pleasant balanced puzzle that didn’t prove too troublesome. lots of clues of the type I call Wordsums (definition below). Off on my jollies … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 378 by Joker – Sum fun!”
Times 26182 – what marque of motor you driving then?
Solving time : 16 minutes on the dot, with most of that time being spent in the top left corner – everything else seemed to go in on a first or second reading. For those … Read more “Times 26182 – what marque of motor you driving then?”
Times 26181 – pot pourri
I found this a curious mixture of the ridiculously easy and the subtle and difficult. I had it completed in about 17 minutes over the usual tea and toast, but it took me a while … Read more “Times 26181 – pot pourri”
Quick Cryptic Number 377 by Izetti
I consistently struggle with the main cryptic to the point of failure, so I enjoy these Quickies best when they’re testing, and this certainly was a stretching but satisfying crossword. I suspect the other novices … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 377 by Izetti”
Quick Cryptic No 376 by Tracy
All was going swimmingly until the sea creature came along but the real sting in its tail for me was the NE where I ‘struggled to survive’ with little ‘improvement’. I expect times/completions to vary … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 376 by Tracy”
Times Cryptic 26180
At 32 minutes this was my best time for a while and is mostly pretty straightforward stuff. I’d have achieved my target of half-an-hour if I’d not written THE as the middle word at 2dn … Read more “Times Cryptic 26180”
Quick Cryptic 375 by Mara
A gentle offering from Mara today, with a good wodge of simple charades and anagrams. The puzzle can be found here if the usual channels are unavailable: http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20150817/9337/ Definitions are underlined. Across 1 ‘Shiner‘ in … Read more “Quick Cryptic 375 by Mara”