Greetings barred-grid fans. This was a rather fun Mephisto with one term in particular that has always tickled me finding its way into the right hand side of the grid. I first heard it as … Read more “Mephisto 3157 – Don Manley”
Month: March 2021
Times Cryptic No 27912 – Saturday, 27 February 2021. How do you spell that?
Well, I want to give very special thanks to the setter this week. The crossword was full of answers I didn’t know, but could get from the very precise wordplay. Particular mention goes to 22ac, … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27912 – Saturday, 27 February 2021. How do you spell that?”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1484: In A City Of The Future It Is Difficult To Concentrate
Off to the races on this uncomplicated jumbo, where many of the clues felt like old friends. FOI 1ac and 5ac, LOI 34ac as I convinced myself this nothing else would fit the bill: sadly … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1484: In A City Of The Future It Is Difficult To Concentrate”
Quick Cryptic 1824 by Mara
An enjoyable workout. Not sure I can predict how difficult people will find it, as there are some very straighforward clues as well as a few others that I couldn’t see straight away, e.g. 5ac, 10ac. … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1824 by Mara”
Times 27,917: Taken Down A Peg Or Two
I made a 15-minute meal of this, a lot of that due to having an alternative answer in at 4dn, which made the NHO 11ac much too hard to spot. There were some easy clues … Read more “Times 27,917: Taken Down A Peg Or Two”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1823 by Hurley
I really enjoyed this puzzle from Hurley, completing it in just under 12 minutes, but there are some traps along the way. I think that my COD is 1a (I may have been influenced by … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1823 by Hurley”
Times 27916 – roll roll roll your boat
Time taken: 8:12. Judging by the other early times, I think I was very much on the setter’s wavelength today, since my time is a bit under my average, but the other early bird are … Read more “Times 27916 – roll roll roll your boat”
Times 27915 – nightmare on Wall Street
I found this a strange curate’s egg of a puzzle; most of it was easy to understand and parse, the rest was biffable; but there were two clues where I am not entirely happy with … Read more “Times 27915 – nightmare on Wall Street”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1822 by Pedro
Introduction 6:07. Nothing too wild. EDIT: I realized while writing the blog that many of the answers I put in from the definition had quite complicated wordplay! I’m interested to know if people got tangled … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1822 by Pedro”
Times Cryptic 27914
Solving time: 30 minutes. There were quite a few less than familiar words here but the wordplay was always helpful and fair so they didn’t delay me long. Yesterday Ulaca dedicated his blog to Jim Biggin … Read more “Times Cryptic 27914”