Thanks again to jackkt for agreeing to swap blogging slots with me. Just like last time I find myself crossing swords with Flamande, who has embarked on something of a world tour in this one, … Read more “Quick Cryptic 690 by Flamande”
Month: October 2016
Times 26557 – The goodbye-to-BST biff-fest
Solving time: 20 minutes Music: Rachmaninov, Symphony #1, Previn/LSO I completed this in 20 minutes on paper, mostly biffing the answers as the literals were quite obvious in this one. But in order to resolve … Read more “Times 26557 – The goodbye-to-BST biff-fest”
Mephisto 2930 – Paul McKenna-Donn Reynolds and the Nicaraguan Resistance
A mixture of the easy and the rather more opaque. I seemed to spend more time than usual checking entries in Chambers to support meanings in clues (eg 11A). Also, I’d never heard of the … Read more “Mephisto 2930 – Paul McKenna-Donn Reynolds and the Nicaraguan Resistance”
Sunday Times 4717 by David McLean
Thoroughly enjoyed this offering from Harry, which I tackled in a couple of sittings of about an hour each – which by my standards is not too bad for this particular setter, who I generally … Read more “Sunday Times 4717 by David McLean”
Saturday Times 26550 (22nd Oct)
Solving time 14:25. I vaguely remember struggling over some of the parsing while solving but I remembered it all OK this morning. I’ve sort of run out of time now though so here it is … Read more “Saturday Times 26550 (22nd Oct)”
TIMES JUMBO 1231
Nothing to scare the horses here and some fun along the way. First in was BEER MUG and last was TREE RING. Away we go then. Across 1 BEER MUG – ER + MUG (features … Read more “TIMES JUMBO 1231”
Times 26,555: Hey You, You In The Jesus Sandals
I cannot tell you exactly how long I took over this puzzle as I did it while on the move around London, in a minorly Kafkaesque ordeal of trying to get a replacement for my … Read more “Times 26,555: Hey You, You In The Jesus Sandals”
Quick Cryptic 689 by Izetti
Today’s puzzle is brought to us by Izetti, and took me a bit over seven minutes to complete. Would have been a minute quicker if not for a bad case of vertical dyslexia at 20dn, … Read more “Quick Cryptic 689 by Izetti”
TLS Crossword 1145 — “1 Down” by Praxiteles – October 7, 2016
Right up until this point, I had not understood what the theme, “poetry” referenced and had actually already written a complaint that the poetry count was no higher than usual. While highlighting the clues, I’ve … Read more “TLS Crossword 1145 — “1 Down” by Praxiteles – October 7, 2016”
October 2016 Club Monthly Special – 20193
Solving Time: This took me a little over an hour in two sessions, so a bit longer than usual, for no obvious reason that I can see. For the second consecutive month the mighty Magoo … Read more “October 2016 Club Monthly Special – 20193”