Ingenious and entertaining, with vivid surfaces hiding a variety of devious devices. I first thought of headlining this “the pusher is in.” One would expect a 5 to do more than sell medication, but of … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4999, by David McLean — and very him”
Month: March 2022
Times Cryptic No 28242 – Saturday, 19 March 2022. Wordplay’s the game.
Lots of familiar words as answers, with challenging wordplay to untangle. I enjoyed it! Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle. How did you all get on? Notes for newcomers: The Times offers … Read more “Times Cryptic No 28242 – Saturday, 19 March 2022. Wordplay’s the game.”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1545 – 12 March 2022. A doceant solve
Hello everyone. I left this until the eleventh hour – almost literally – so have been somewhat briefer than usual. This would mean I have a proper time for a change, but unfortunately I managed … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1545 – 12 March 2022. A doceant solve”
Times Quick Cryptic No 2099 by Jalna
Today we have a Quick Cryptic from Jalna, a relatively infrequent contributor, and who’s crosswords I sometimes find a bit tricky. Not overly so today, although I did get held up a little in the … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 2099 by Jalna”
Times 28,247: ✂✪❥❿➹➰❡
Okay this was sufficiently Fridaylicious for me – remorsely pangrammatic and with multiple clues pulling no particular punches on the difficulty level front. 11ac got me my in and I was soon being led by … Read more “Times 28,247: ✂✪❥❿➹➰❡”
Times Quick Cryptic No 2098 by Juno
I originally thought this was simply a quirky and original affair from Juno, so it was only with a bit of post-solution scrutiny that I found a glorious Nina hiding artfully in plain sight (hint … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 2098 by Juno”
28246 Thursday, 24 March 2022 Simples?
I was through this in 21.25 with everything tidied away: as often seems to be the case these days almost bang on the current average time. By no means a straight through solve though, as … Read more “28246 Thursday, 24 March 2022 Simples?”
Times 28245 – answer the riddle, or die.
I romped through 90% of this in good time, then spent another ten minutes sorting out 20d, 28a and my LOI 13d, and trying to understand 23d before I wrote up the blog. I liked … Read more “Times 28245 – answer the riddle, or die.”
Times Quick Cryptic 2097 by Tracy
After a little difficulty breaking through to the bottom half (and particularly the SW), this was polished off in less than target time. I had to take a post-solve look at 7dn to parse it, … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 2097 by Tracy”
Times Cryptic 28244
Solving time: 39 minutes. This was a puzzle of two halves for me. The answers in the top half almost wrote themselves in at first glance, but then in the bottom half I saw the … Read more “Times Cryptic 28244”