A pleasant offering to start the week, with some good surface readings and a spread of interesting vocab with nothing I would classify as obscure. Thanks, Teazel. The puzzle can be found here if it’s … Read more “Quick Cryptic 655 by Teazel”
Month: September 2016
Sunday Times 4710 by Dean Mayer – not so simple
26:10. I found this hard, but it was immensely enjoyable. Another Dean Mayer masterpiece, in fact. He has such a knack for writing clues that seem completely baffling and impenetrable until you look at them … Read more “Sunday Times 4710 by Dean Mayer – not so simple”
Mephisto 2923 – Tim Moorey
My main source of difficulty in this one was the proper nouns both in the answers and in the wordplay. This is the first time I think I’ve done the Mephisto paperless, by making a … Read more “Mephisto 2923 – Tim Moorey”
Times Jumbo 1224 (Monday August 29th)
A not-too-difficult (I thought) Jumbo for the Bank Holiday Monday. As always, * indicates an anagram. Across 1 GORKI – hidden in St PetersburG OR KIrov 4 TANTRIC – TAN + TRICc 8 ADDICTION – … Read more “Times Jumbo 1224 (Monday August 29th)”
Saturday Times 26508 (3rd Sept)
Solving time 13:46. Quite UK-centric in places, but nothing too difficult. I can’t remember now what slowed me down. Maybe just took a while to get the brain into solving mode. Across 1 Composer of … Read more “Saturday Times 26508 (3rd Sept)”
Jumbo 1223
Fairly straightforward with a few unfamiliar words to check in the dictionary before finally submitting. All were fairly clued and with checking letters there was little doubt. Across 1 TWELVEMONTH – (LOVE WENT)*, around M(aiden), … Read more “Jumbo 1223”
Times 26,513: The Noel Gallagher of Notting Hill
Friends, Latinists, Yorkshiremen, lend me your ears. It may not have escaped your notice that I had been a little jaded, verging on sniffy, about the Friday crosswords I’d been blogging of late. But I … Read more “Times 26,513: The Noel Gallagher of Notting Hill”
Times Quick Cryptic No 654 by Grumpy Friday 9th September 2016
A very fine and possibly straightforward offering today, by Grumpy, whose pseudonym belies the subtle humour in the puzzle. 8ac and 4d stand out for me in a very good learning puzzle for cryptic solvers. … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 654 by Grumpy Friday 9th September 2016”
TLS Crossword 1139 by Broteas – August 19, 2016 A cabinet of curiosities
Another fine offering, which took me heunny naimits. O all right, 79 minutes. And yes, yes, 16 seconds. 22 and 26 were the undeserving holdups, but in truth, by the time I got to them … Read more “TLS Crossword 1139 by Broteas – August 19, 2016 A cabinet of curiosities”
Quick cryptic No 653 by Rongo
This was an enjoyable puzzle that was solved comfortably inside my target time of 10 minutes, so I think on the easier end of the spectrum. Some lovely surfaces, some very easy clues to help … Read more “Quick cryptic No 653 by Rongo”