Crikey, is the year half over already? This was another quality MCS displaying the usual delight in the mad, bad and dangerous to define words bulking out our dictionaries, all clued with the usual precision … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,225: Levi Stubbs’ Tears”
Month: June 2019
Sunday Times 4856 by David McLean
8:30. A nice easy one from Harry this week. Only one unknown (the garment), mostly pretty straightforward wordplay and only one query (at 20dn). Quite a lot of anagrams. Definitions are underlined, anagrams indicated like … Read more “Sunday Times 4856 by David McLean”
Mephisto 3069 – Paul McKenna
I solved this one on an airplane between Washington Dulles and Los Angeles with an electronic copy of Chambers handy, and was glad for the distraction (for those curious, that flight is a Mephisto, an … Read more “Mephisto 3069 – Paul McKenna”
Times Cryptic No 27384 – Saturday, 22 June 2019. No jet lag yet.
I tackled this puzzle “fresh” (if that’s the word) off an overnight flight from tropical climes, but happily there was nothing here to cast me into wintry despair. The oddest clue was 23ac, which was … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27384 – Saturday, 22 June 2019. No jet lag yet.”
Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1387 – 15th June
Today’s Jumbo is a bit harder than usual, I think, with a number of quite chewy bits that got me grinding my teeth. Some devious definitions and tricky wordplay in places held me up at … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1387 – 15th June”
Quick Cryptic 1384 by Joker
Mainly straightforward with a couple of stiffer ones. It took me a while to spot 4dn, tried to put a Y in 8ac because it’s too early in the morning and I can’t spell. a … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1384 by Joker”
Times 27,389: Snow White And The Seven No Trumps
Not the hardest of the week, coming in the wake of two excellent tough numbers, but for once I have no complaints about what was a thoroughly entertaining puzzle. An unusually large number of double … Read more “Times 27,389: Snow White And The Seven No Trumps”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1383 by Orpheus
An entertaining and quietly challenging puzzle from Orpheus which requires a smattering of General Knowledge (GK) to solve, and the ability to react to some slightly different and unusual clue constructions. I took every second … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1383 by Orpheus”
Times 27388 – in which LiveJournal chucks a wobbly
Solving time: 21:11. This is a difficult puzzle, but I was under a few adverse circumstances here, I am jet-lagged and at the family home in Melbourne for my father’s funeral this afternoon. This means … Read more “Times 27388 – in which LiveJournal chucks a wobbly”
Times 27387 – fun and games today. Who said that?
This wasn’t the hardest crossword I’ve blogged in the last five years, but it’s close to being the most fun to do; in 24 minutes I had it finished and was parsing a final couple … Read more “Times 27387 – fun and games today. Who said that?”