Solving time: 10 minutes. By a quirk of fate I get to blog the milestone QCs ending with -00 and always look to see if the setter has chosen to mark the occasion in some … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1400 by Orpheus”
Month: July 2019
Mephisto 3072 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. 13A … Read more “Mephisto 3072 by Paul McKenna”
Sunday Times Cryptic 4859, Bastille Day 2019, by David McLean — Very light
Sitting by a fierce fan on this first day of the latest US heat wave, I’m very glad that this one is so easy to write up. It also seems calculated to make me wish … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4859, Bastille Day 2019, by David McLean — Very light”
Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1390 – 6th July. Me Kitty: am snail
Hi everyone. I can’t give you a time for this as I’ve been redonculously busy lately and have had to fit solving into spare moments, often on crowded trains … but I suspect if I … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1390 – 6th July. Me Kitty: am snail”
Times Cryptic No 27402 – Saturday, 13 July 2019. Free at last.
I’ve spent all this week “emptying our nest”. That turned out to be a big job, so I am writing this blog late and with very little memory of the solving experience. Never mind, our … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27402 – Saturday, 13 July 2019. Free at last.”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1399 by Breadman – Stormy petrel on a breadstick
A lovely puzzle from Breadman today with an interesting array of vocabulary and General Knowledge. It helps to know your Old English alphabet, Scottish towns, ancient highways, paper sizes and Arthurian legends, for example, but … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1399 by Breadman – Stormy petrel on a breadstick”
Times 27,407: A Toast To The Happy Couple?
About as easy as Times 15x15s get, pace a few interesting words like 5dn and 17dn. There seems to me to be a nonzero chance that this puzzle is to celebrate a wedding, if 10ac, … Read more “Times 27,407: A Toast To The Happy Couple?”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1398 by Tracy
I found this easier than yesterday’s, which I did just beforehand, but I was aware of that nice experience, notable by its rarity, where for a good number of the clues the first thing that … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1398 by Tracy”
Thursday, 18 July 2019 In which the miller’s son turns up late
27406 Thursday, 18 July 2019 A struggle for me, midnight solving not necessarily to blame, extending to all but 32 minutes and producing an improbable but annoyingly pink error. As disclosed, I have some minor … Read more “Thursday, 18 July 2019 In which the miller’s son turns up late”
Times 27405 – sink or swim
I swam or 20a quickly through this one, 15 or 16 minutes, pausing only to think about 22a and my LOI 27a in terms of parsing. Nothing else very scary or exciting. A few obvious … Read more “Times 27405 – sink or swim”