25 minutes for this one, an interminable time trying and failing to parse 18dn as befits a conscientious commentator. Apart from this and others in the Cornish corner, I found this easygoing with some pleasant … Read more “Times Cryptic 26554 – October 27, 2016. Une jolie puzzle avec many choses interestant.”
Month: October 2016
Times Quick Cryptic No 688 by Orpheus
This was a lovely crossword. Tricky in parts, with the SW and NE corners taking me past the 15 minute mark, but lots of smooth surface readings and satisfying clues to solve along the way. … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 688 by Orpheus”
Times 26553
Not one of last Saturday’s tormentors, no doubt they are to come; a middle of the road puzzle for midweek. If any of the usual suspects has a PDF of the nine competition puzzles, could … Read more “Times 26553”
Quick Cryptic 687 by Marty
A real mixture of difficulties here; plenty went in without a scratch of the head, whilst others required significantly more thought (at least in parsing). For me, examples of the latter include 4ac, 9ac, 22ac, … Read more “Quick Cryptic 687 by Marty”
Times Cryptic Number 26552
I needed more than an hour for this one but as 60 minutes approached, when I might sometimes have decided to cut my losses, I was still confident that I could solve it without reference … Read more “Times Cryptic Number 26552”
Quick Cryptic 686 by Mara
13 minutes – some of which were taken revelling in some of the clue constructions. A big thank you to Mara for such entertainment. Once again I’m on the road so have little time. Please … Read more “Quick Cryptic 686 by Mara”
Times 26,551 – Sweets for my sweet, what the heck for my honey
Due to an unfortunate concurrence of events – not least my PC being on the blink and the time machine needing further time at the service centre to remove all traces of the use it … Read more “Times 26,551 – Sweets for my sweet, what the heck for my honey”
GCHQ Puzzle Book
I got an email from a publicity assistant at Penguin Books about 10 days ago, asking me if I’d like a review copy of “a very exciting cryptic puzzle book due to be published next … Read more “GCHQ Puzzle Book”
Championships 2016 chatter
I thought it might be nice to have a thread where folk can chat about Saturday’s event without hijacking main puzzle threads and annoying those who weren’t there and wouldn’t have wanted to be. So … Read more “Championships 2016 chatter”
Times Quick Cryptic 685 by Teazel
I’m standing in for mohn2 this week. In response to overwhelming popular demand (well one person wrote to me) I am reinstating my practice of stating my QC solving times, but other bloggers remain free … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 685 by Teazel”