Time: 30 minutesMusic: Paul Simon, Rhythm of the Saints This one proved tougher than usual for a Monday – a lot of knowledge required. If you are an experienced solver, you will just follow the … Read more “Times 27979 – It’s no secret, but you may not know it!”
Month: May 2021
Sunday Times 4954 by David McLean – something like a phenomenon
6:33. A very gentle puzzle from Harry this week, but none the worse for that. The goddess at 9ac might cause some problems, but she was vaguely familiar to me for some reason. 7dn must … Read more “Sunday Times 4954 by David McLean – something like a phenomenon”
Mephisto 3167 – Tim Moorey
Greetings barred-grid fans. I did pretty well with this one – Tim Moorey often puts in a few pop culture or sports references and I think I was familar with most of them this time … Read more “Mephisto 3167 – Tim Moorey”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1496 – pardon me boy, is this the bodega?
The fates decided to throw me a second consecutive bank holiday jumbo (this time I haven’t barged in front of Kitty) and once again I was kept entertained for somehwere over an hour. The bank … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1496 – pardon me boy, is this the bodega?”
Times Cryptic No 27972 – Saturday, 8 May 2021. Another of life’s little mysteries?
This went fairly quickly until I found myself staring at 19dn in frustration. It could only be what it was, but why!? Was it going to be another of those inexplicable clues, like the one … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27972 – Saturday, 8 May 2021. Another of life’s little mysteries?”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1495 – 1st May 2021. Ding: dang! Walla walla rhubarb
Hi everyone. Thanks to the setter for this chewy but tasty offering to kick off the bank holiday weekend. I had been forewarned about the difficulty and so allowed myself a couple of sessions. There … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1495 – 1st May 2021. Ding: dang! Walla walla rhubarb”
Quick Cryptic 1874 by Felix
An interesting mélange today, which some may find tricky. There’s also a fairly obvious Nina (Glossary here if you don’t know what that means): 1ac 6ac, who is 9ac, wrote 13ac and lived in 6dn. … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1874 by Felix”
Times 27,977: Come Friday Bombs
As will all multi-double-def-including puzzles, this felt like it might end up being very wavelengthy. I did it relatively speedy, especially as I seem to be having an off-my-game week, but this was helped by … Read more “Times 27,977: Come Friday Bombs”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1873 by Joker
I was slow solving this, but remained short of the SCC at 19 minutes. Looking back as I write the blog, I can’t think why I was so slow as nothing seems to be unusually … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1873 by Joker”
Times 27976 – nearly tripped up by chemistry of all things!
Time taken: 18:29. I think I’ve hit the stinker for the week, and I’m still a little unsure of some wordplay that I hope comes as I write up the blog. There’s some well hidden … Read more “Times 27976 – nearly tripped up by chemistry of all things!”