Kαλως ηρθατε from sunny Naxos, where me and the missus are having a well-deserved rest away from the stresses of Hong Kong, reminding ourselves in the land where democracy was hatched just how far the … Read more “Times 27373 – I fear the Geeks, even when they bring Gifs”
Month: June 2019
Times Quick Cryptic 1370 by Breadman
My solving time was 11 minutes. Regulars may know that I always include parsing in my stated times and it was that that took me over my target 10 minutes today; the answer at 21dn … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1370 by Breadman”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1384: Federated States of Mea Culpa
Apologies for this arriving later than Kitty’s excellent blog for 1385 – this was a Bank Holiday Monday puzzle of course, and so through my timings all out of whack. It was also a deeply … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1384: Federated States of Mea Culpa”
Mephisto 3066 by Paul McKenna
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. 4D … Read more “Mephisto 3066 by Paul McKenna”
Sunday Times Cryptic 4853, by David McLean — Tout est dans les clous
Every ingredient of this tasty puzzle seemed to be in apple-pie order… hence my headline. The expression, nodding here (first) to, uh, clue (a near homophone) 18—comes from the fact that pedestrian crossings in France … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4853, by David McLean — Tout est dans les clous”
Times Cryptic No 27366 – Saturday, 01 June 2019. Give me the simple solve …
Well, this was harder than the previous week. It also expanded my general knowledge with things like 11 and 26 across, and was a master class in oblique definitions like those at 14 across, and … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27366 – Saturday, 01 June 2019. Give me the simple solve …”
Jumbo 1383
A fairly standard Jumbo, with nothing too much of concern. Across 1 TIMES NEW ROMAN – TIMES = by, NEW = anagram of ROMAN = norma 8 SUGARPLUM – SUP = dine, around GAR = … Read more “Jumbo 1383”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1369 by Pedro
I find Pedro has the knack of combining the straightfoward clues needed to get you going with some that need a bit more thought, and today’s crossword did just that for me. Nothing too obscure … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1369 by Pedro”
27,371: When Life Gives You Lemon Squeezy
Well I don’t know about you lot, but I thought this was too easy for the Friday slot that is categorically no harder than any of the other days on average according to management… capping … Read more “27,371: When Life Gives You Lemon Squeezy”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1368 by Izetti
A bit easier than average, I’d say, and certainly so for an Izetti: I came in with a bit of change from eight-and-a-half minutes, and that included a minute staring dumbly at 2d, for no … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1368 by Izetti”