I struggled in the top half, so quite quickly dropped down to the bottom where progress was easier. Having built up the base, the two long down clues (3 and 8) then helped with checkers … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1306 by Teazel”
Month: March 2019
Times 27295 – The metronome mazurka!
Time: 39 minutesMusic: Shostakovich, Symphony 14, Ormandy/Philadelphia I found this a refreshing puzzle, with unusual clues and novel cryptic technique. At first it seemed almost unapproachable, but I found a few Quickie-style clues scattered around … Read more “Times 27295 – The metronome mazurka!”
QC 1305 by Oink
I believe this is the first time I have blogged an Oink puzzle. Pleased to meet you, Sir or Madam, and I enjoyed your puzzle very much. I think because the ‘handwriting’ was unfamiliar I … Read more “QC 1305 by Oink”
Sunday Times 4840 by Dean Mayer
14:29. This was another very straightforward puzzle by Dean’s standards, I thought. There’s the hint of a theme in here: something about an INIQUITOUS place where there are NO HALF MEASURES and HEDONISTs and HOOLIGANS … Read more “Sunday Times 4840 by Dean Mayer”
Mephisto 3053 – Tim Moorey
I found this one kind of a struggle and I’m not sure if I have everything 100% sussed out. There are an unsually large number of clues that require reversal of wordplay components here. The … Read more “Mephisto 3053 – Tim Moorey”
Times Cryptic No 27288 – Saturday, 02 March 2019. Snakes on a plane.
This was a fly-by-night effort. In other words, I did it on an inter-city flight on my way home from a long meeting. Under the circumstances, it went reasonably quickly – at least I finished … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27288 – Saturday, 02 March 2019. Snakes on a plane.”
Jumbo 1368
Nothing contentious here although parts of 2D may have caused issues for overseas solvers. No clue stands out as a particular favourite, but if I had to choose one it would probably be 36A or … Read more “Jumbo 1368”
Quick Cryptic 1304 by Joker
So I’m in another French alpine hotel with sub-dialup WiFi speed, and because the Times page took so long to refresh I almost ended up blogging yesterday’s, which would have been interesting. Another straightforward one, … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1304 by Joker”
Times 27,293: Eggs Over Easy
This was a really good puzzle, tricksy in the wordplay department without being obscure, impeccably surfaced, and having a pleasantly Timesy old-worldliness to its vocabulary. I adored the thwarted soldiers at 9ac and the clever … Read more “Times 27,293: Eggs Over Easy”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1303 by Izetti
It is always a pleasure to blog an Izetti puzzle, my last one was 17 blogs ago. I was just outside 10 minutes for this one, but some of that time was spent worrying over … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1303 by Izetti”