Another perforce abbreviated blog this morning, as it’s almost 11 and here I am at work, sorry all! My strategy this week of replacing hours of sleep on a one-for-one basis with free tequila and … Read more “Times 26,315: The Tequila Rebellion”
Month: January 2016
Quick Cryptic 489 by Dazzler
A little easier than recent Friday offerings, I felt, about 7 minutes for me, and no going through the alphabet to find missing words. Fortunately had most of the checkers for 17a otherwise no chance … Read more “Quick Cryptic 489 by Dazzler”
26314 I love the smell of napalm in the morning.
20.07, with quite a lot of time making sure the parsing was right in this tricky little number. Another grid with a bit of a TLS feel to it, what with vaguely defined stageworks and … Read more “26314 I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”
Quick Cryptic 488 by Flamande
Another well-composed puzzle. A smattering of crossword conventions to be noted – the kind that old-timers take for granted. The two long struts at 2 and 5 down are a big help if you can … Read more “Quick Cryptic 488 by Flamande”
Times 26313 – an educational diversion
This puzzle has a rather different flavour I feel, with several answers gettable from wordplay or a vague “I think I’ve heard ‘of…”, but requiring some real GK to be sure. It took me about … Read more “Times 26313 – an educational diversion”
Quick Cryptic Number 487 by Teazel
An enjoyable crossword with just a touch of challenge in the right places. I learnt some new vocabulary through very fairly crafted wordplay, which is always nice. I though 23ac was fun; not a device … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 487 by Teazel”
Quick Cryptic 486 by Hurley
The anagram at 6dn caused me so much trouble that I discovered a ‘get the keyboard out of the way on the screen’ button on the iPad keyboard which enabled me, eventually, to see the … Read more “Quick Cryptic 486 by Hurley”
Times Cryptic 26312
I completed all but four answers in 30 minutes but needed another 15 to crack 4dn, 6dn, 12ac & 13ac. Most of clues are straightforward though the parsing at 9ac took a bit of thinking … Read more “Times Cryptic 26312”
Time 26311 – The Steelers lost… so who won?
Solving time: 19 minutes Music: Prokofiev, Alexander Nevsky, Schippers/NYP I considered continuing to watch the golf, and not posting a time for this one. However, I decided to turn off the TV and tackle the … Read more “Time 26311 – The Steelers lost… so who won?”
Quick Cryptic 485 by Mara
I enjoyed quite a few of the surfaces in this one, in particular 24A and 6D, which always makes me feel well-disposed to a puzzle. No difficult vocabulary but the wordplay for 11A and 6D … Read more “Quick Cryptic 485 by Mara”