Solving time: 28 minutes with one unchecked letter wrong. Amazingly we have only one single anagram clue! Must surely be a first? As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in … Read more “Times Cryptic 28076”
Month: September 2021
Times 28075 – A, B, C, D, F or G!
Music: Keith Jarrett, Fort YawulTime: 18 minutes We are back to easy Monday, but there are a couple of places where it would be easy to biff too readily and make a mistake. Good times … Read more “Times 28075 – A, B, C, D, F or G!”
QC 1955 by Tracy
I thought this was probably the most challenging quickie I have ever blogged. I get the feeling that the Monday morning ‘ease them into the week gently’ effect is even more pronounced for the quickie than … Read more “QC 1955 by Tracy”
Sunday Times 4970 by Dean Mayer
24:28. I found this really tough, and absolutely brilliant. Going back over the clues to write the blog none of it seems desperately hard, but I was thoroughly fooled by some of the misdirection. Great … Read more “Sunday Times 4970 by Dean Mayer”
Mephisto 3183 – Paul McKenna
Greetings barred-grid fans! Tricky workout from Paul McKenna this week – a few clues with multiple components and a 90-degree grid which led to some answers being fully-checked, but the 12-letter entries all having three … Read more “Mephisto 3183 – Paul McKenna”
The Sunday Times Cryptic Crossword Book 1
I’m delighted to tell you that the first book of ST cryptic crosswords since 2006 was published on Thursday – cover price £6.99. Not long after starting at the Sunday Times, I asked Harper Collins … Read more “The Sunday Times Cryptic Crossword Book 1”
Times Cryptic No 28068 – Saturday, 28 August 2021. Make no mistake!
There were some very clever definitions here; 13ac was my favourite! Is the definition in 18ac really doing double duty as part of the wordplay? If so, we should declare an amnesty since the clue … Read more “Times Cryptic No 28068 – Saturday, 28 August 2021. Make no mistake!”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1513 – 21 August 2021
Hello again. This Jumbo I thought was harder than some we have seen lately; a bit of a pig in fact, though in a nice way, of course. It took me two sessions to solve, … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1513 – 21 August 2021”
Quick Cryptic 1954 by Teazel
I enjoyed this one. I’ve given up pronouncing on difficulty because I always seem to have the opposite view to the rest of you. Nothing unfair in the wordplay, though perhaps a slightly dodgy anagrind* … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1954 by Teazel”
Times 28,073: Strictly For The Local Birds
I found this medium-tricky, but perhaps for the wrong reasons: the parsings are almost universally simple (by and large, “put X in Y”), but the grid is quite ungenerously laid out, with numerous double unches, … Read more “Times 28,073: Strictly For The Local Birds”