A smoothly crafted puzzle with good surfaces. With one possible exception it shouldn’t produce any hiccups and there are no real obscurities. The exception is an anomaly in 21a which I don’t recall having seen … Read more “Quick Cryptic 528 by Joker. And a Happy St Patrick’s Day.”
Month: March 2016
Times 26361 – not an antelope
Nothing here to cause equine panic, I feel; 14 minutes for this pleasant but straightforward challenge, with a few more to reflect on the parsing of 9a and 25a. I knew the word for 1a … Read more “Times 26361 – not an antelope”
Quick Cryptic Number 527 by Izetti
A slightly difficult puzzle of the type we’ve come to expect (and, I hope, enjoy) from Izetti. Very precise and misleading, with one or two answers that require complete confidence in having untangled the wordplay … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 527 by Izetti”
Quick Cryptic 526 by Tracy
Answers fairly flew in today – sometimes without fully checking the word play. After 7 minutes, with everything else complete, I got to 23ac and came to a grinding halt. Every other letter was filled … Read more “Quick Cryptic 526 by Tracy”
Times Cryptic 26360
This one took me exactly 30 minutes and I found it very enjoyable and quite inventive in places. A couple of words may not be familiar to all but the wordplay is clear enough in … Read more “Times Cryptic 26360”
Times 26359 – A barrel with only one monkey
Solving time: 31 minutes Music: Clannad, Crann Ull Having spent the day working on my US income tax return, preparing my Unrecaptured Section 1250 Gain worksheet among other things, I was ready for a change. … Read more “Times 26359 – A barrel with only one monkey”
Quick Cryptic 525 by Dazzler
A pleasant solve from Dazzler today, with no obscurities and some nice surfaces. Unfortunately I think this setter died in December of last year so regrettably we will only have a few more of his … Read more “Quick Cryptic 525 by Dazzler”
Sunday 4684 by David McLean – solve, or solve not
36:27. I thought this was a really first-class puzzle. Rather like Dean Mayer this setter seems to have a mind that works a little bit differently to most, so that there are always lots of … Read more “Sunday 4684 by David McLean – solve, or solve not”
Mephisto 2897 – Paul McKenna
I started working on this without access to Chambers, and was having a hard time of it – several question marks. I finished it waiting for a flight, loving my WordWeb version of Chambers on … Read more “Mephisto 2897 – Paul McKenna”
TLS Crossword – bloggers wanted
Peter Biddlecombe is now editing the TLS Crossword (he has been helping out for a while but now it’s official), and he’s asked me if we might start blogging it again. Myself and Tony Sever … Read more “TLS Crossword – bloggers wanted”