Solved in bed with the tea and toast, in 20 minutes or so, more or less anti-clockwise with 3a and the first word of 6d being the last to drop in. Nothing too obscure, except … Read more “Times 26475 – three heads are better than one.”
Month: July 2016
Quick Cryptic 622 by Corelli
Greetings from Colombia – about to travel back to UK following a wonderful time on a remote island off Cartagena. Apologies for any slips but blogging under sub-optimal circumstances and very much in holiday mode. … Read more “Quick Cryptic 622 by Corelli”
TIMES JUMBO 1216
I haven’t got much to say about this puzzle so let’s get straight on with it. I solved it in 4 bursts of about 10 minutes each. First in was SORBET, last in ATHENIANS. Across … Read more “TIMES JUMBO 1216”
Quick Cryptic 621 by Orpheus
I thought this was excellent – quite a few trip-ups to catch the unwary and certain clues needed a real focus to break through. There’s also a French wine and an Italian island – so … Read more “Quick Cryptic 621 by Orpheus”
Times Cryptic 26474
I needed more than an hour to complete this one and would rate it as the most difficult weekday puzzle for some time. Only one word and one abbreviation were unknown to me but there … Read more “Times Cryptic 26474”
Times 26473 – Sting in the head
This was a pretty typical Monday offering, unless, like me, you mucked 1 down up, and then revised it in part so that it was still wrong in part. Heavens knows how much that took … Read more “Times 26473 – Sting in the head”
Times Quick Cryptic 620 by Mara
I needed 14 minutes to complete this one and have to say I found it quite hard, though looking back on it when blogging I am unable to explain why. There’s one possibly unfamiliar answer … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 620 by Mara”
Mephisto 2916 by Don Manley – Carlos Prieto would have done
An easy puzzle that had solvers scratching their heads over 1 across which contained an error. Don Manley gave his apologies on the Times website. I also have a query at 20 down where I … Read more “Mephisto 2916 by Don Manley – Carlos Prieto would have done”
Sunday Times 4703 by Jeff Pearce (17th July)
I’m standing in for nick_the_novice this week as he’s somewhere in the wilds of Colombia about 1,000 miles from a mobile signal apparently. 10:25 for this one, surprisingly quick considering the number of unknown words. … Read more “Sunday Times 4703 by Jeff Pearce (17th July)”
Saturday Times 26466 (16th July)
15:30 for this one, which saved most of its trickiness for the shorter answers. 1ac went straight in, quickly followed by most of the downs hanging off it, so I was off at a sprint. … Read more “Saturday Times 26466 (16th July)”