In these times of Christmas celebrations, COVID lockdowns, and summer travel (this side of the equator), the sort of police controls at 1ac loom large! Not that any of those things trouble our household … … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27870 – Saturday, 9 January 2021. Don’t drink or drive.”
Month: January 2021
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1477 – 2nd January
I know I asked for more tricky ones when I blogged Jumbo 1442… and, lucky me, I got it in spades this time. “A bit of a beast” one or two of my pals have … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1477 – 2nd January”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1789 by Izetti
Once again I have the pleasure of blogging a Friday QC from Izetti. A relatively gentle crossword today with plenty of starter clues and nothing too tricky, I think – it took me just a … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1789 by Izetti”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1476 – Let’s. Play. Crosswords.
This was a leisurely New Year’s Day solve, done in a single session with no hangover whilst simultaneously watching football and joining in family conversations. Not too easy (possibly because many of the definitions were … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1476 – Let’s. Play. Crosswords.”
Times 27,875: He Floats In The Air With X, Ys and Zs
I didn’t find this a pushover, but more to the exotic vocabulary choices rather than anything especially devious about the cluing: the parsings below are largely straightforward. CASCARA went in early but I was rather … Read more “Times 27,875: He Floats In The Air With X, Ys and Zs”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1788 by Mara
A bit the trickier side of things, I found, and despite several clues that seemed familiar from crosswords past there were a couple of sticking points that left me a bit over two minutes over … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1788 by Mara”
27874 Thursday, 14 January 2021 Unimpeachable
I found this rather easy and whizzed through in 11.31 scarcely pausing for breath and (truthfully) making sure the wordplay worked. Unusually, there is no “hidden” answer, and no every-other-letter clue, and only two anagrams … Read more “27874 Thursday, 14 January 2021 Unimpeachable”
Times 27873 – light and dark, hard and soft.
One of those puzzles which has loads of straightforward clues and a few really tricky ones, with a couple of obscurities at 13d and 16d. I fell into a bear trap at 26a, but climbed … Read more “Times 27873 – light and dark, hard and soft.”
Times Quick Cryptic 1787 by Joker
DNF – hopefully for technical reasons regarding 18ac. I’m sure you’ll let me know if I’m missing something… [On edit, looking at the leaderboard, it seems I’m in good company!] Otherwise a puzzle of average … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1787 by Joker”
Times Cryptic 27872
Solving time: 24 minutes. Very enjoyable without being particularly challenging. I raised an eyebrow a few times along the way. As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} … Read more “Times Cryptic 27872”