A nice concise crossword from Hurley, with plenty of good long answers (which I find help me when solving). There are a couple of harder bits of parsing, but no obtuse GK. I was somewhat … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1923 by Hurley”
Month: July 2021
Times Quick Cryptic No 1922 by Izetti
Introduction 5:26. Delightful puzzle! Easy enough in the top half that I thought I’d race through, but the bottom half was sufficiently chewy to make it a puzzle of substance. Hope you enjoyed it. Solutions … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1922 by Izetti”
Times 28035 – from Our Man in Rutland.
Not in Havana, unfortunately from a nice-weather viewpoint, but at least Rutland is not on the amber list. Actually we’re moving again, from 1 mile inside Leicestershire (but only 4 miles from Oakham, Rutland’s capital … Read more “Times 28035 – from Our Man in Rutland.”
Times 28034
Solving time: 38 minutes. Not by any means a straightforward puzzle but the wordplay got me to the solutions I wasn’t sure of. As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are … Read more “Times 28034”
Times Quick Cryptic 1921 by Trelawney
Reasonably smooth sailing but some sticky spots around the grid which had to be ground out – LOI was 9ac and I came home in a very satisfying 5 seconds under 10 minutes. 7ac seemed … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1921 by Trelawney”
Times 28033 – All Greek to me
27 minutes for me, so according to my internal Witchometer, a tad tougher than the average Monday. A nice mixture of sciency stuff, marine biology, horticulture, history, linguistics and Classics. Who needs a GK crossword … Read more “Times 28033 – All Greek to me”
Times Quick Cryptic 1920 by Tracy
Solving time: 8 minutes. I don’t often report on surface readings as I’ve trained myself to ignore them when solving, but reviewing them for the blog I was struck today by how excellent they are. … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1920 by Tracy”
Mephisto 3176 – The turning of the screw!
This puzzle was a strange mixture of perfectly straightforward, quite simple clues with a few that were almost impossible. I nearly managed to finish, but got stuck in the end, and had to phone a … Read more “Mephisto 3176 – The turning of the screw!”
Sunday Times Cryptic 4963 by David McLean — Not amateur hour
…with maestro McLean displaying his usual level of 7 (and I’m glad there are no Spoonerisms), presenting us with two deftly executed &lits amid a plethora of other excellent clues, which all seem fairly 2 … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4963 by David McLean — Not amateur hour”
Times Cryptic No 28026 – Saturday, 10 July 2021. Ain’t Misbehavin!
Here in our locked-down city, it was nice to have a Saturday crossword to tackle. All went smoothly. I liked the appearance of Fats Waller, and welcomed meeting the three words I didn’t know. Thanks … Read more “Times Cryptic No 28026 – Saturday, 10 July 2021. Ain’t Misbehavin!”