I have less time than usual this week as my wife is hors de combat and I’m shopping, cooking, washing, etc. So I’ve had to biff 23A and would appreciate help to understand the clue. … Read more “Mephisto 2910 by Don Manley”
Month: June 2016
Sunday Times 4697 by Jeff Pearce
A good solid puzzle this week from Jeff which took me somewhat longer than it should have done with the benefit of hindsight. No real obscurities or particularly tricky stuff to negotiate, but not a … Read more “Sunday Times 4697 by Jeff Pearce”
Saturday Times 26430 (4th June)
16:43, which seemed like a good time for this one as there’s plenty of trickery here. There were enough anagrams to keep things moving though, including the excellent 5D (which took me a while to … Read more “Saturday Times 26430 (4th June)”
Times 26,435: The Peeping Tom’s Tale
In my typically drink-impaired midnight hour, I found this a *relatively* straightforward Friday puzzle to cap a week of straightforward puzzles, coming in a little under the 10 minute mark, but maybe I was just … Read more “Times 26,435: The Peeping Tom’s Tale”
Quick Crossword 589 by Grumpy
A lot of really good surfaces here, I thought, with COD 21d. 5d a tricky one to parse, 25a a long time coming, and not sure if a ferret and a polecat are the same … Read more “Quick Crossword 589 by Grumpy”
TLS crossword 1126 by Myrtilus – May 20, 2016
This is the first Myrtilus I’ve blogged – the previous one (1118 on March 25th) was very difficult indeed and fell to Zabadak’s lot. There were plenty of tricks here but I was able to … Read more “TLS crossword 1126 by Myrtilus – May 20, 2016”
Times Quick Cryptic No 588 by Orpheus
A tough but rewarding puzzle, with the left hand side taking a bit of work. I don’t recall seeing the grid layout before – 11ac and 18ac could both be completed without so much as … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 588 by Orpheus”
Times Cryptic 26434 – June 9, 2016: Mostly harmless
Not particularly difficult this one, but I stretched it out to nearly 29 minutes by allowing concentration to drift at the end of a busy day. It’s pretty stolid, workmanlike stuff, with a couple of … Read more “Times Cryptic 26434 – June 9, 2016: Mostly harmless”
Times 26433 – almost tasteless?
Today’s offering began with writing in 1a and 1d, wondering if this was setting some kind of theme for the day (and the crossword). Well, almost, it was; with more slightly distasteful words or negative … Read more “Times 26433 – almost tasteless?”
Quick Cryptic Number 587 by Hurley
Some great anagrams, devilish hidden words, and several less common abbreviations all make for a Goldilocks-difficulty QC. I got 1ac from the wordplay alone, which is always nice, but enjoyed 20ac and 12dn even more. … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 587 by Hurley”