A common, plaintive question about doing the MCS is “am I really supposed to be solving this without any aids?” and I would like to go out on a limb and answer that in the … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,256: 23ac Goo Goo”
Month: January 2022
Times 28201 – Patriot Games
16:05, so a pretty straightforward Monday puzzle on my watch after one or two trickier ones. Quite a few anagrams, two relatively less obscure items of flora, accessible vocabulary and generous cluing makes this a … Read more “Times 28201 – Patriot Games”
Times Quick Cryptic 2060 by Joker
Solving time: 9 minutes. I found some of this quite tricky. As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 2060 by Joker”
Mephisto 3204 – One who always causes grief!
This was not terribly difficult, and I finished in one sitting. I would have finished much more quickly if I had not carelessly biffed sdaign and grenadilla, but I eventually realized the problem, and used … Read more “Mephisto 3204 – One who always causes grief!”
Sunday Times Cryptic 4991, by Dean Mayer — What it’s all about
Solid, sufficiently scintillating session.Slick surfaces.Succinct suggestions.Sly subtexts.Some small something seemed strange, still… I indicate (a Sam rang)* like this, and italicize anagrinds in the clues. ACROSS 1 Poor piece of work that setter’s put away? … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4991, by Dean Mayer — What it’s all about”
Times Cryptic No 28194 – Saturday, 22 January 2022. Call that funny?
The names of the comedian at 3dn and the manager at 6dn may be unfamiliar to solvers outside the sceptered isle, likewise the answer at 25ac. Otherwise this was a normal Saturday assignment, I thought. … Read more “Times Cryptic No 28194 – Saturday, 22 January 2022. Call that funny?”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1537 – 15th January
As I solved this the Saturday before last and remembered to use my solution as the framework for the blog I thought, “but it’s only a week since I published my last Jumbo blog”. Well … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1537 – 15th January”
Times Quick Cryptic No 2059 by Alfie
When I saw Alfie’s name at the top of today’s crossword I thought, “We could be in for some alphabetical fun here”… and I wasn’t disappointed. You shouldn’t have found it difficult to see the … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 2059 by Alfie”
Times 28,199: 4m50s From Paddington
After a really tough and interesting puzzle in the middle of the week, I thought to myself or may even have said out loud, “well that’s that then, Friday’s is going to be no great … Read more “Times 28,199: 4m50s From Paddington”
Times Quick Cryptic No 2058 by Teazel
I found this tough, and persevered beyond 20 minutes as I thought it might be nice to actually finish a crossword this week. Alas, I threw in the towel at 23 minutes and clicked on … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 2058 by Teazel”