A challenging crossword which I managed to get through in just over 10 minutes – but they weren’t easy minutes and included a great deal of interest and a blind guess. I’m not sure how … Read more “Quick Cryptic 581 by Joker”
Month: May 2016
Times Cryptic 26426
I found this one quite hard and needed nearly 70 minutes to work my way steadily through it. With hindsight it doesn’t seem particularly difficult but there were a few references that took a while … Read more “Times Cryptic 26426”
Times 26425 – What is all this juice and all this joy?
A puzzle worthy of the Spring Bank Holiday, with lots of nice stuff and enough trickery to keep me occupied for 51 minutes, which included a pit-stop which was only marginally longer than Daniel Ricciardo’s. … Read more “Times 26425 – What is all this juice and all this joy?”
Times Quick Cryptic 580 by Tracy
This is Tracy’s 53rd puzzle and judging by my solving time of 6 minutes I’d say it’s at the easier end of the scale. There are a couple of answers, maybe 11ac and 4dn, … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 580 by Tracy”
Mephisto 2908 by Tim Moorey – a bit of everything
Very enjoyable puzzle that I solved anti-clockwise from NW corner to NE corner. Not sure what overseas solvers will make of the bonbons which I sense are very UK centric and are named after the … Read more “Mephisto 2908 by Tim Moorey – a bit of everything”
Sunday Times 4695 by Dean Mayer
An absolute ripper from Dean this week: loved every minute of what turned into a very long grapple indeed. Some ingenious cluing (5a, 8d and 24a being prime examples for my money), great surfaces (6d … Read more “Sunday Times 4695 by Dean Mayer”
Saturday Times 26418 (21st May)
12:55 for this, solved from the paper for a change whilst sat inside hoping for the rain to stop (it didn’t). Only unknown was GALLIARD, but it was very easy to derive from wordplay, so … Read more “Saturday Times 26418 (21st May)”
Jumbo 1207 May 14, 2016 – No offence
Still getting used to this blogging caper. In my previous outing I managed to offend cat lovers, Emily Bronte fans and Dan Browne admirers (who knew?), so today I’ll be steadfastly avoiding anything controversial. The … Read more “Jumbo 1207 May 14, 2016 – No offence”
Times 26,423: Either These Pangrams Go, Or I Do
Be careful what you wish for, I suppose: at Tuesday’s Sloggers & Betters, as always happens when I’m a couple of sheets to the wind, I wheeled out my opinion that if you haven’t learned … Read more “Times 26,423: Either These Pangrams Go, Or I Do”
Quick Crossword 579 by Hurley
Phew! Some tricky clues here, in particular 7d and 15d, which made it feel harder than it actually was in the end. A few crosswordland abbreviations to watch out for – RA (Royal Academician) for … Read more “Quick Crossword 579 by Hurley”