I found this one quite hard in places and spent an hour on it by which time I had been stuck on the final two answers long enough to be bored with them so I … Read more “Times Cryptic 26354”
Month: March 2016
Times 26353 – Ton Up
Today is my hundredth blog. To mark the occasion, I invited my fellow bloggers (including a couple of lapsed ones) to help write up the Across clues. I also approached one confrère specifically to see … Read more “Times 26353 – Ton Up”
Quick Cryptic 520 by Flamande
7 minutes for this one which I would rate at the easier end of the spectrum but my judgement has been proved wrong so often that we’ll have to see what others made of it. … Read more “Quick Cryptic 520 by Flamande”
Mephisto 2896 by Tim Moorey – My Double Ton
My 200th Mephisto blog (ignoring two specials in June 2011 in memory of Mike Laws). My first was puzzle 2489 of 11th May 2008 (also by Tim Moorey as it happens). A middle-of-the-road puzzle this … Read more “Mephisto 2896 by Tim Moorey – My Double Ton”
Sunday Times 4683 by Dean Mayer – Lean ‘n’ Mean…
Something of a tour de force from Dean this week, in my view. Decidedly tricky in places (13a was devious in the extreme, and 15a had me pacing around and growling for several minutes until … Read more “Sunday Times 4683 by Dean Mayer – Lean ‘n’ Mean…”
Saturday Times 26346 (27th Feb)
18:50 for this, which was quite tricky in places. The wordplay for 7dn and 26ac took some seeing (although 7dn was easily biffable). I found 16dn and 22dn harder than they should have been too. … Read more “Saturday Times 26346 (27th Feb)”
Jumbo 1193
No real problems with this one. One unfamiliar word that needed checking and it was only after the event that I appreciated the setter’s intentions in 1A Across 1 ABBEY – ABBE = French priest, … Read more “Jumbo 1193”
Times 26,351: You And Whose Army?
I personally didn’t find this particularly operose for a Friday, clocking out on a nice tidy 399 seconds. Quick FOIs 11ac and 19ac, and finally coming to a rest in the SW with 21n and … Read more “Times 26,351: You And Whose Army?”
Quick Crossword 519 by Joker
This one took me a little longer than my average, as testified by the new timer facility. I got held up in the SE, not being able to think of anything better than ‘better’ for … Read more “Quick Crossword 519 by Joker”
26350 And I believe that the devil is ready to repent! But..
I kept feeling there was some sort of message in this thing, what with two unlikely Presidents of the US of A (one past and strangely rather fondly remembered), and one yet to be. The … Read more “26350 And I believe that the devil is ready to repent! But..”