DNF. I struggled with this, for reasons I largely can’t see now that I come to write up the blog. I failed at the end on FOIE GRAS, and I’m reasonably clear on why I … Read more “Sunday Times 4760 by Jeff Pearce – O Captain! My Captain!”
Month: August 2017
Times Saturday 26808 – August 19, 2017. What does a geisha desire?
This started easily with the two geisha clues, but got progressively harder. 14ac, 17ac and 7dn were all difficult. My choice for the clue of the day is 20ac – nice definition and nice wordplay. … Read more “Times Saturday 26808 – August 19, 2017. What does a geisha desire?”
Times 26,813: And A Fried Egg On Top And Spam
I found this puzzle a bit of a curate’s crustacean – I very much enjoyed its quirkiness during the solve, but I don’t think it was the hardest of the week, taking me a midrange … Read more “Times 26,813: And A Fried Egg On Top And Spam”
Quick Cryptic 904 by Noel
So I’m typing this from Switzerland with a breathtaking mountain view and rather dodgy wi-fi, so fingers crossed it makes it through. Quite a straightforward offering today I think. There are some old chestnuts which … Read more “Quick Cryptic 904 by Noel”
Quick cryptic No 903 by Hurley
Another nice puzzle from Hurley, with a little bit of GK (general knowledge) in 12a, 13a and 22a, but all fairly clued. Hurley traditionally utilises a good mix of clue types, and this is repeated … Read more “Quick cryptic No 903 by Hurley”
Times 26812 – throw your relatives in the air!
Solving time : 10:38, but about two minutes of that was on the crafty clue at 24 down, which is just begging for you to biff in APSES but that just does not work with … Read more “Times 26812 – throw your relatives in the air!”
Times 26811 –
Not too much trouble with this one, 20 minutes, easiest Wednesday for a while, although 7d was new to me. I’m a bit hazy about 9a too. [Edit: z8 to the rescue]. Half the clues … Read more “Times 26811 –”
Quick Cryptic 902 by Mara
A fairly straightforward offering which I managed to knock over easily enough notwithstanding being somewhat under the weather with a touch of summer flu. 17dn held me up for a while as I managed to … Read more “Quick Cryptic 902 by Mara”
Times Cryptic 26810
I solved all but 7dn, 13ac and 15ac within 30 minutes but then I was stuck. Part of my problem was that I had rashly biffed MILD at 6ac and I needed to realise my … Read more “Times Cryptic 26810”
Times Quick Cryptic 901 by Orpheus
Foreign capitals, Indian cities, flora and fauna plus some less usual vocabulary would, I’d have thought, have held me up longer than 12 minutes (less 1 second – if you’re interested). However everything flowed pretty … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 901 by Orpheus”