This blog appears on an Australian public holiday to mark the arrival of British settlers in Sydney Cove. A good or a bad thing depending which side of history you were on. Arguably not the … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27252 – Saturday, 19 January 2019. Happy Australia day”
Month: January 2019
Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1362 – 12th January
I ground to a halt about 2 thirds of the way through this with the LHS proving somewhat recalcitrant. In the end, though, I finished in under an hour, so on the whole it’s not … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1362 – 12th January”
Quick Cryptic 1274 by Mara
I seem to have tackled this one without serious obstruction, despite my ignorance of equine anatomy. 11ac seems to be some sort of error, but a pleasant solve overall. Across 1 Before disaster, switch footwear … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1274 by Mara”
Times 27,257: Burns Notice
I couldn’t get anything right in the puzzles earlier this evening, managing to submit a very careless TOTAL ECLIPSE in the QC and a mystifying DEBOUCHER here, even after thinking through how “ban” was a … Read more “Times 27,257: Burns Notice”
Times 27256: I called it!
Solving time: 20:05 I commented on yesterday’s puzzle that we are due for a stinker, and it would just so happen that it is my turn. And we got it! I am usually under 12 … Read more “Times 27256: I called it!”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1273 by Orpheus
Comfortably inside 12 minutes for me, so at the easier end of the spectrum, and certainly nothing to frighten the horses here, unlike yesterday – which I found hard. The Welsh name at 21a may … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1273 by Orpheus”
Times 27255 – I’ll make a clean breast of this one
For some reason I found the LH side of this one easy while the RH side took me twice as long. In retrospect I can’t see why. There’s a marine mollusc you can guess from … Read more “Times 27255 – I’ll make a clean breast of this one”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1272 by Alconiere
Should have been 8’30” but ended up at 9’30” as I spent a full minute trying to figure out the last three letters of 22 Across. A very straightforward puzzle with a lot of answers … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1272 by Alconiere”
Times Cryptic 27254
I needed only 31 minutes for this so I would rate it as pretty easy. Very enjoyable but with more of a Monday feel to it than yesterday’s puzzle. As usual definitions are underlined in … Read more “Times Cryptic 27254”
Times Quick Cryptic 1271 by Hurley
This seemed a bit on the tricky side to me but I have no time to report due to travel interruptions. Let me know how it was to go at in one sitting as I … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1271 by Hurley”