I threw in the towel at the 18 minute mark with a guess at 23ac and a made-up anagram of “female” at 10ac. Lots of tricky cluing with surfaces that read seamlessly and required a … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1158 by Izetti”
Month: August 2018
Times Cryptic No 27118 Thursday, 16 August 2018 “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.”
I’m not currently solving at top speed, and this certainly chewed up a good 30 minutes, not helped by offering a (valid?) alternative at 1 across which created a need at 2 down for a … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27118 Thursday, 16 August 2018 “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.””
Times 27117 – “The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct.”
Today is a public holiday in my neck of the woods – Assumption – so I have a much needed respite from the daily grind of trekking 220 km by taxi, at the nation’s expense, … Read more “Times 27117 – “The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct.””
Quick Cryptic 1157 by Hawthorn
Highly enjoyable. I was quick off the mark but soon came across those clues that were not so generous in the wordplay, and one unknown word at 11dn. Also found that 1ac, 18ac and 3dn (my … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1157 by Hawthorn”
Times Cryptic 27116
My solving time for this was 76 minutes over four interrupted sessions as I found it to be a toughie. I wonder if it was just me? As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions … Read more “Times Cryptic 27116”
Times Quick Cryptic 1156 by Pedro
LOI 8ac took a while to drop and took me to a fraction over 8 minutes. If one were to feel particularly strongly about it, one could formulate a reference to US politics in 1ac, … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1156 by Pedro”
QC 1155 by Joker
Medium dificulty for me, I would say just under 10 minutes although I fielded an early morning business call in the middle which muddied the waters. But it felt like the easy side of average … Read more “QC 1155 by Joker”
Times 27115 – “Fifteen minutes can save you….
Time: 37 minutesMusic: Mozart, Piano Sonatas, Christopher Eschenbach Good evening, fellow solvers. The blog is a bit late tonight, as I was involved in watching the final major of the year on TV, which is … Read more “Times 27115 – “Fifteen minutes can save you….”
Mephisto 3023 – Tim Moorey
Apologies for the late post, I thought that I put up a placeholder yesterday. I got stuck at a party last night and had plans to play golf early this morning so didn’t get a … Read more “Mephisto 3023 – Tim Moorey”
Sunday Times 4810 by David McLean – intensive purposes
14:10. Nothing too difficult this week, and fair number of very easy clues (13ac, for instance, or 24dn). However there are also a few slightly trickier ones that slowed me down at least, including an … Read more “Sunday Times 4810 by David McLean – intensive purposes”