There was an extended deadline for this puzzle due to the holiday weekend(s). I don’t know if it was intentional, but I found this one far more difficult than most of the recent Mephistos and … Read more “Mephisto 2991 – Paul McKenna (December 24 Mephisto)”
Month: January 2018
Sunday Times Christmas Cryptic 4778 by David McLean
27:30. For the first time ever I managed to remember that the Sunday puzzle that appears just before Christmas is a jumbo, so I was able to give myself plenty of time to solve it. … Read more “Sunday Times Christmas Cryptic 4778 by David McLean”
Sunday Times 4779 by Dean Mayer
Preparations on the Sunday for the NYE event Mrs No Vice (if ever there was a misnomer…) and I were hosting meant I did not get around to this one until New Years Day. Tackling … Read more “Sunday Times 4779 by Dean Mayer”
Times Cryptic No 26922 – Saturday, 30 December 2017. A gentle wind-down.
Well the last Saturday crossword for 2017 made for a pleasant finish to the year. Now that clocks have changed I regularly do the crossword over our midday meal and found nothing to upset the … Read more “Times Cryptic No 26922 – Saturday, 30 December 2017. A gentle wind-down.”
Boxing Day Jumbo 1300
I found this puzzle quite tricky, with a stuffing and sprouts overdose perhaps responsible for my stupor. A few unknowns, though only one needed to go in with fingers crossed. As this is my blog … Read more “Boxing Day Jumbo 1300”
Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1299 (23/12/17): The Hunting of the Quirk
It is harder to blog the Jumbos than the straight 15x15s because, given that there are a whacking 60 clues to sort out instead of the usual 30, and anything particularly brilliant runs a risk … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1299 (23/12/17): The Hunting of the Quirk”
Times 26,927: Physical Exertion
Happy New Year! I’m hoping the Friday puzzle’s new year’s resolution may have been to be as consistently dastardly as it was in the good old days, before Tuesday and Wednesday started jostling for its … Read more “Times 26,927: Physical Exertion”
Times Quick Cryptic 999 by Izetti – Goldilocks does the Quickie
Number 999… Woo. I wonder if we will get anything extraordinary on Monday? Meanwhile, here we have another great crossword from Izetti. Just the right mix of easy and not so easy clues to make … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 999 by Izetti – Goldilocks does the Quickie”
TfTT Christmas Turkey 2017
TfTT Christmas Turkey 2017 Most of this was done fairly easily for a “mixed setters” puzzle. After 10 minutes I was left with 7 clues, solved in this order (time not noted – maybe another … Read more “TfTT Christmas Turkey 2017”
Times Quick Cryptic No 998 by Howzat
Well this was a tough one all right. There were a number of quite difficult clues cluing quite difficult words, a few of which crossed each other as well, just to compound matters. The top … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 998 by Howzat”