Solving time: 7 minutes. I found this very easy for an Izetti puzzle but I shall not be surprised if less-experience solvers have a few more problems. It’s a pangram, meaning that every letter of the … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1440 by Izetti”
Month: September 2019
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1399: If Life Seems Jolly Rotten, There’s Something You’ve Forgotten!
About as straightforward as Jumbos get, which was just as well when I hadn’t realised my weekend had come around again so soon. FOI 1ac, LOI 56ac as it took a while for me to … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1399: If Life Seems Jolly Rotten, There’s Something You’ve Forgotten!”
Mephisto 3080 – 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. 24A … Read more “Mephisto 3080 – Tim Moorey”
Sunday Times Cryptic 4867, 8 IX 2019, by Dean Mayer — Save the day
IN THIS DAY AND AGE—the latter being the Anthropocene—it behooves us to take a CONSERVATIONIST stance. Realistic forecasts of imminent change give me the WILLIES. Just look at what’s happening to our OCEANS. Is that … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4867, 8 IX 2019, by Dean Mayer — Save the day”
Times Cryptic No 27450 – Saturday 07 September 2019. From frostbite to tropical heat.
From the ice of 1ac to the searing sun of 27ac, there wasn’t an answer here I didn’t know, but there were lots of clever clues and quite a sprinkling of humour. Thanks to the … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27450 – Saturday 07 September 2019. From frostbite to tropical heat.”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1439 by Tracy – I’m only here for the beer
I would say this is pretty much a classic straightforward QC from Tracy today. Nothing too difficult, I think, with plenty of easy ones to give you some checkers. You may need, though, to remember … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1439 by Tracy – I’m only here for the beer”
Times 27,455: Live Free Or Dipole
I am suffering from blogger’s glum because I’d completed a fairly extensive write-up of this one… which got eaten beyond my powers of retrieval when I clicked on the “Post” button. Such is life! I … Read more “Times 27,455: Live Free Or Dipole”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1438 by Orpheus
I was creeping close to my target, so didn’t hang around to think more about 1d and 18d, and was marginally surprised not to see the unlucky sign for a change. 1d is news to … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1438 by Orpheus”
27454 Thursday, 12 September 2019 Yes, yes, yes it’s my Autumn…
A pretty easy start with the top line going straight in flattered to deceive, and I took a hard-worked 29 minutes over this. Wordy clues needed much wrangling especially to tease out the wordplay, which … Read more “27454 Thursday, 12 September 2019 Yes, yes, yes it’s my Autumn…”
Times 27453 – see how the Fates their gifts allot
If I had to pick one adjective to describe this puzzle, I’d say, straightforward. There is one word at 18a I didn’t know beforehand, but it’s deducible from the anagram fodder and the meaning. The … Read more “Times 27453 – see how the Fates their gifts allot”