A not overly strenuous (by Friday standards) puzzle to cap off a not overly strenuous crossword week. There was a fair bit of low (ie good) cunning to the wordplay here, but essentially, if you’re … Read more “Times 27,353: The Laconian Muse”
Month: May 2019
Times Quick Cryptic No 1353 by Oink
At 7 minutes start to finish this puzzle was close to a personal best for me, and I really can’t get through them any quicker than that sort of time – I just can’t read … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1353 by Oink”
Times 27352 – a number and a number
Time taken: 13:09. The last two daily puzzled I blogged each had something I didn’t like about them, but the setter has come through today with a rather fun offering that I enjoyed immensely. It … Read more “Times 27352 – a number and a number”
Times 27351 – Does a German Dogger Bight?
16 minutes for this light hearted offering, which for the first time in my 5 years of blogging regularity, does not (as far as I can see) have a ‘hidden word’ clue. Apart from the … Read more “Times 27351 – Does a German Dogger Bight?”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1352 by Des
Introduction I nearly finished this puzzle in 16’30”, but it took me another three minutes to puzzle out and then Google my answer for 8 Down. In any case, my longish time made sense: the … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1352 by Des”
Times Cryptic 27350
I needed a little over an hour for this one with several guesses which fortunatley proved to be correct. As I started preparing the blog I still didn’t have all the parsings but I arrived at … Read more “Times Cryptic 27350”
Times Quick Cryptic 1351 by Teazel
I found this pretty tough (especially the SW) but I was solving on paper, in lovely weather, sitting by a lake. I’ll be interested to see other comments as I suspect the setting/distraction added to … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1351 by Teazel”
Times 27349 – Of Hackney Laureates and Minotaur Slayers
A very enjoyable Monday offering, which helps to exorcise the memory of Friday’s bestial offering (excellent though it was after its own fashion). Lots of nice stuff here. I needed three stabs at 8a, essaying … Read more “Times 27349 – Of Hackney Laureates and Minotaur Slayers”
Times Quick Cryptic 1350 by Mara
Solving time: 11 minutes. I had some difficulty getting going with this one and several longer answers (such as 1ac) needed most of their checkers before I could bring them to mind. As usual definitions … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1350 by Mara”
Mephisto 3062 Tim Moorey
Unless you’re very experienced you are unlikely to solve a Mephisto without using Chambers. The idea is that you use the precise wordplay to derive an answer that you then verify in the dictionary. 9A … Read more “Mephisto 3062 Tim Moorey”