I found this third of the set just about the same in difficulty as the first two, with plenty of scope for biffing on the day I’d imagine, even if the parsing was a bit … Read more “Times 27567 – TCC Heat 1 #3 – nothing to scare the mokes.”
Month: January 2020
Times Quick Cryptic No 1532 by Teazel
Introduction Lovely puzzle, which I had finished under 7 minutes, but botched the last clue at 15 Across, so DNF for me. Solutions Across 1 Where strikers are lined up to fight after game (8) … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1532 by Teazel”
Times Cryptic 27566
Solving time: 28 minutes. I found most of this quite straightforward. There were a couple of less than familar words in the Down answers but they were easily assembled from wordplay, and a plant at … Read more “Times Cryptic 27566”
Times Quick Cryptic 1531 by Mara
I made heavy weather of this, probably down to the anagrams, and took13 minutes. I hope it’s just me as, on review, I can’t seewhy I got held up. I’ve had a bit of a … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1531 by Mara”
Times 27565 – Christopher Newport Meets Bo Peep
A bit of a skeletal blog, I’m afraid, as I have to attend a hastily arranged meeting with Louisa, the scary head of our newly established Projects and Administration Department. This was a workaday Monday … Read more “Times 27565 – Christopher Newport Meets Bo Peep”
Times Quick Cryptic 1530 by Izetti
Solving time: 7 minutes. Quite a gentle offering from Izetti today, I thought, although I was helped by the long answer at 1ac which was a write-in for me and got things off to a … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1530 by Izetti”
Mephisto 3098 – Tim Moorey and a Triple Ton for Jimbo
My first Mephisto Blog was puzzle 2489 which appeared in May 2008. It was, coincidentally, set by Tim Moorey. Today’s blog is my 300th Mephisto offering (ignoring specials such as the commemorative puzzles for Mike … Read more “Mephisto 3098 – Tim Moorey and a Triple Ton for Jimbo”
Sunday Times Cryptic 4885, 12 I 2020, by David McLean — Needling Boris
Hey, I had a McLean puzzle last go-round! Well, Biddlecombe has explained what happened there… This was great fun, despite the absence of any really unusual vocabulary, nothing previously unknown to work out strictly via … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4885, 12 I 2020, by David McLean — Needling Boris”
Times Cryptic No 27558 – Saturday January 11th, 2020. Another pleasant midsummer Saturday.
Times Cryptic No 27558 – Saturday January 11th, 2020. Another pleasant midsummer Saturday. The setters continue to be gentle in the holiday season. I rolled through this one at a steady pace. Strangely my LOI … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27558 – Saturday January 11th, 2020. Another pleasant midsummer Saturday.”
Jumbo 1418
Happy New Year, if a little belated. This one was a fair test for New Year’s Day, although as much effort went into parsing some of the clues as actually determining the solutions. 49A and … Read more “Jumbo 1418”