Not too many hold-ups with this one, despite a deliberately unhelpful capital letter in 3d – by then I had enough checkers not to be searching for French words. Clever turn of phrase in 23a, … Read more “Quick Cryptic 499 by Hurley”
Month: February 2016
26326 “No, it’s right I’m sure. It fits in with ‘delirium’ and ‘Baluchistan’.”
A bit of a Brief Encounter this one, at least in my terms, at 13.56. It’ll be interesting to see how rapid a fill it is for others, though my experience this week is that … Read more “26326 “No, it’s right I’m sure. It fits in with ‘delirium’ and ‘Baluchistan’.””
Quick Cryptic 498 by Orpheus
A well-composed puzzle with some very neatly turned clues. Nothing obscure or unfair. Yes, that’s still me, except that it isn’t of course. Just for some variety I’m ringing the changes with my userpics between … Read more “Quick Cryptic 498 by Orpheus”
Times 26325
After yesterday’s struggle I was fearing the worst, but it proved otherwise; I whizzed through this in 15 minutes (probably 3 Verlaines) with most of it write-in material. 22a and 14d required a minute or … Read more “Times 26325”
Quick Cryptic Number 497 by Grumpy
Nice and straightforward again this morning, with a number of addition or charade type clues. Only hold ups for me were failing to spot the indicator at 5dn (very easy to read over it), and … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 497 by Grumpy”
Quick Cryptic 496 by Flamande
I found this on the easier side – completing in 10 minutes – plus one extra minute for 7dn where I couldn’t see the wood for the trees. Very enjoyable though with lots of very … Read more “Quick Cryptic 496 by Flamande”
Times Cryptic 26324
I needed 43 minutes to solve this rather tricky puzzle and extra time to understand some of the clues. My last one in was 14ac where there were only a couple of possibilities for the … Read more “Times Cryptic 26324”
Times 26323 – Two English golfers
Solving time: 26 minutes Music: Beethoven, Piano Concerto #5, Curzon/Knappertsbusch/VPO After spending a wonderful afternoon listening to rare records on a system that costs more than a new Ferrari, I came home for a quick … Read more “Times 26323 – Two English golfers”
Quick Cryptic 495 by Izetti
A tricky one from Izetti today. I generally attempt to solve the Quickies in clue order – this puzzle required several passes before 7D and (less explicably) 14A yielded. Though my track record of predictions … Read more “Quick Cryptic 495 by Izetti”