I thought this puzzle was around the middle of the spectrum in terms of degree of difficulty. No obscurities, but some of the clues seemed to offer a range of possible constructions that required exploration … Read more “Quick Cryptic 502 by Dazzler”
Month: February 2016
Quick Cryptic 501 by Joker
Distractions meant that I jumped in and out of this which can sometimes help but in this case caused incorrect entries at 9 and 20ac. Unraveling all this together with long anagrams gave me a … Read more “Quick Cryptic 501 by Joker”
Times Cryptic 26330 – The blog wot I wrote…
A fairly straightforward puzzle to mark my first time filling in the Tuesdays between my regular 15×15 slots and I completed it in 26 minutes. The count of references to people in clues and answers … Read more “Times Cryptic 26330 – The blog wot I wrote…”
Times 26,329 – Minkey Business
The Lunar New Year is ushered in with this tricky little number, which features quite a few animals but none I recognise among the Oriental Zodiac. But I have more serious things to consider, like … Read more “Times 26,329 – Minkey Business”
Quick Cryptic 500 by Corelli – D-Day!
Today sees a milestone with the publication of Quick Cryptic No 500 following the inaugural puzzle which I had the pleasure of blogging on 10 March 2014. This innovation has certainly created a lot of … Read more “Quick Cryptic 500 by Corelli – D-Day!”
Saturday Times 26322 (30th Jan)
Apologies for the lateness – I had internet trouble yesterday. Solving time 20:12, struggled to get going at first as I was a bit bleary-eyed from the night before. Bit of a mixed bag with … Read more “Saturday Times 26322 (30th Jan)”
Mephisto 2892 by Don Manley
Second simple puzzle on the trot Across 4 INSECTARY – IN-SEC(re)TARY; worker=bee or ant; 10 ORANT – O-RANT; worshipping figure; 11 OUTPRAY – (rapt you)*; 12 NASTIC – (antics)*; 13 REMISE – REM(IS)E; surrender; 14 … Read more “Mephisto 2892 by Don Manley”
Sunday Times 4679 by Jeff Pearce
A solid sort of puzzle this week – no pyrotechnics but pleasant enough. 7d was unknown to me, but fortunately the wordplay was generous and we were given 60% of the cross checkers. Thanks to … Read more “Sunday Times 4679 by Jeff Pearce”
Times Jumbo 1189
Fairly straightforward, I thought. Lovely word at 4dn! As always, * indicates an anagram. Across 1 ANTIPODES – it, reversed, + PO, in ANDES 6 APPEALS – APPAL S, around unclE 10 CAPER – double … Read more “Times Jumbo 1189”
Times 26,327: Booze Cruise
There really are an unusual number of references to drink and drunkenness in cryptic crosswords, aren’t there? It’s not just me and my confirmation bias? I can’t think what possible connection there could be between … Read more “Times 26,327: Booze Cruise”