Time: 25 minutesMusic: Smetana, Symphonic Poems, Kubelik/Bavarian Radio Symphony While I completed this puzzle with decent speed, it really is a minefield full of traps for the unwary. I would not be a bit surprised … Read more “Times 27571 – Pillage, then sprenge!”
Month: January 2020
Sunday Times 4886 by Dean Mayer – same number same hood
15:03. A puzzle of medium difficulty, I thought, and of the usual high quality. Quite a high cryptic definition count, at four. This sort of clue isn’t universally liked, so this will not please everyone … Read more “Sunday Times 4886 by Dean Mayer – same number same hood”
Mephisto 3099 – Paul McKenna
I hope this will get posted, I am fighting spotty internet connectivity in a rather cavernous hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. I thought this was a step up in difficulty from recent Mephisto puzzles. Paul McKenna … Read more “Mephisto 3099 – Paul McKenna”
Times Cryptic No 27564 – Saturday January 18th 2020. Hard, not hard.
This was a slow solve for me, but really there isn’t anything fearsome involved. The clue of the day for me was the elegant 5dn. Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle. Clues … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27564 – Saturday January 18th 2020. Hard, not hard.”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1420 – 11th January 2020
Bleary-eyed greetings from London. I found this jumbo unproblematic (no 17a) although I didn’t know the US writer, the poison or the oration and only dimly recalled a few other things. My one error was … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1420 – 11th January 2020”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1419: Godownly Knows
Apologies for the delay on this one – I’d almost finished writing it up before I was haled off to a bar followed by a drunken party, and you wouldn’t have gotten any sense out … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1419: Godownly Knows”
Times Quick Cryptic 1534 by Grumpy
I am posting this as an emergency blog. I needed 19 minutes having been stuck on 16dn and 22ac. As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1534 by Grumpy”
Times 27,569: Hit Me With Your Tickling Stick
I found this a little bitty, with some quite easy numbers intermingled with strange foreign-isms, including 3dn which is one of the most wilfully obscure clues in recent memory. I did very much enjoy the … Read more “Times 27,569: Hit Me With Your Tickling Stick”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1533 by Felix
Well, there is plenty of meat on the bones of this fine offering from Felix, where he has made good use of an unusual grid to tax us this morning. My time was close on … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1533 by Felix”
Times 27568 – time to get on the case
Solving time: 16:20, but with one incorrect. Not a typo, not a brain fart, one that I am still pretty stumped on but it is rather late in the puzzle so maybe something will come … Read more “Times 27568 – time to get on the case”