This was, IMHO, a Jumbo of average difficulty, with a smattering of tricky bits to keep us on our toes. I was done and dusted in about 45 minutes. In writing up the blog I … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1506 – two jumps in a week”
Month: July 2021
Times 28,031: The Thematically 24ac Blog
Olivia seems to have filled in admirably with an emergency blog, but let it not be sad that I do not fulfil my contractual obligations… eventually. So this was obviously tough, but there was some … Read more “Times 28,031: The Thematically 24ac Blog”
Cryptic 28031 July 16, 2021 holding blog
This was really really hard and I threw in the towel at 35 minutes with one I had to look up (13D) and 3 I couldn’t parse. We badly need Verlaine, who managed it in … Read more “Cryptic 28031 July 16, 2021 holding blog”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1919 by Jalna
This is, I think, only my second Jalna Quick Cryptic to blog. On the tricky side, I thought and my time of 7:25 is my slowest for 4 weeks. 8D was a new word for … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1919 by Jalna”
Times Quick Cryptic No 1918 by Breadman
Around average difficulty today from Breadman: I was 8 minutes on the button, coming back to finish in the top-left. Some, like 21ac, were easier to biff than to parse, and there was a good … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1918 by Breadman”
28030 Thursday, 15 July 2021 Bliss it was in that dawn to be alive
I liked this rather well, despite or perhaps because of its somewhat quirky nature and occasional oblique use of the crossword language. I don’t think there’s much in the vocab to frighten anyone though the … Read more “28030 Thursday, 15 July 2021 Bliss it was in that dawn to be alive”
Times Quick Cryptic 1917 by Wurm
LOI and COD to 1ac, which made for a slow start but a satisfying penny-drop moment at the end. I also had a chuckle at 4dn. I wonder if our international friends are familiar with … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1917 by Wurm”
Times 28029 – quatorze juillet, and a storming crossword.
Once again our mystery setter has delivered the goods, I think, with a very enjoyable and erudite puzzle; it does require a little GK (1a, 4d, 19a, 24a, 16d) but there’s almost nothing my 11 … Read more “Times 28029 – quatorze juillet, and a storming crossword.”
Times Cryptic 28028
Solving time: 28 minutes. I don’t know that having 6 double defintion clues is excessive, but having 5 of them in the Down clues in close proximity made blogging them very repetitive. As usual definitions … Read more “Times Cryptic 28028”
Times Quick Cryptic 1916 by Joker
With apologies to those uninterested in football, I’ve found it impossible not to draw references from Sunday’s game. I found this something of a test – not in the same league as the Italian football … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1916 by Joker”