Very hard indeed, but very good indeed, and quite an education in obscure currencies from all around the globe. COD to the ingenious Italianate stylings of 4ac, but I also very much liked À LA … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,243: Strange Currencies”
Month: December 2020
Times 27,863: Seafood Diet
Happy New Year! 2021 gets off to a gentle start with this five-minuter (from where I was sitting) – probably best not to risk anything too challenging when people are nursing their hangovers from Hogmanay. … Read more “Times 27,863: Seafood Diet”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1778 by Orpheus
I had one of those frustrating solves – not often a fault of the setter – where you rattle through most of it before getting stuck on the last one or two clues: here I … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1778 by Orpheus”
27862 Thursday, 31 December 2020 And so, the end is near…
I went to 18.27 with this one, hampered at the last by a misplaced letter in a crossing clue which made the author at 10 cross impossible to work out. Once sorted, the guy was … Read more “27862 Thursday, 31 December 2020 And so, the end is near…”
Times 27861 – woke and awake
I know it’s not cricket to blog that something was easy, or easier than another thing, pour pas les autres décourager, but I was surprised to find myself writing in answers as fast as I … Read more “Times 27861 – woke and awake”
Times Quick Cryptic 1777 by Hurley
A good training ground QC with a nearly complete range of clue types and very little esoteric GK. 21ac was my LOI, having seen the legendary bird round here before, but taking a while to … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1777 by Hurley”
Times Cryptic 27860
Solving time: 31 minutes. I found this straightforward with two or three quite quirky definitions. As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and … Read more “Times Cryptic 27860”
Times Quick Cryptic 1776 by Breadman
I found today’s more difficult than yesterday but as many found yesterday’s quite hard maybe the reverse will hold true today.I found this chock full of clever clues which I’ve enjoyed untangling for the blog. … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1776 by Breadman”
QC 1775 by Trelawney
Not much time to say anything this week what with recovering after the hollowed out Christmas which I hope you all managed to enjoy as well as you could in the circumstances. FOI was the … Read more “QC 1775 by Trelawney”
Times 27859 – Missing a bicycle?
Time: 29 minutesMusic: Balakiriv, Tamar, Svetlanov/USSR Symphony I had a tough time getting started tonight, and read through nearly all the clues before solving a single one. However, once I had three crossing letters, I … Read more “Times 27859 – Missing a bicycle?”