Solving time: 40 minutes. There were a handful of unknown words or meanings here to account for my missing my target half-hour. Where necessary the wordplay came to my rescue.
Month: June 2022
Times Quick Cryptic 2151 by Trelawney
Lots of double definitions and anagrams. Just crept inside 10 minutes again but it was very tight. POI 9ac gave the final crucial checker for LOI 3dn. Thanks Trelawney.
Times Quick Cryptic 2150 by Pedro
Solving time: 9 minutes with time lost thinking that 9dn was going to be a pure anagram instead of just a partial.
Times Cryptic 28,309
A rare return to the daily blogging team for me, subbing for Ulaca who is on a holiday jaunt around Europe at present. Though it seems only yesterday that I gave up my Wednesday slot, alongside first mctext and then Pip.
Sunday Times Cryptic No 5009 by David McLean — forte intensité du courant
After spotting the two-letter definition, I wasn’t expecting the single-letter one! This was challenging and enlightening. I learned things, never having heard of the jacket at 10 or the culinary mixture at 25 or encountered the idiom at 26 or the pejorative expression at 13…
Attention Mephisto Solvers!
As you maybe have noticed, The Times is having a little difficulty with their Mephisto puzzles. Due to an error, Mephisto 3223 by Don Manley was posted to both the Crossword Club and The Times online site, while the correct puzzle, Mephisto 3222, was published in the physical newspaper.
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1557 – 21st May
I found this a Jumbo of average difficulty with plenty of straightforward clues to give checkers for the trickier ones. It took me just over 35 minutes.
Times Cryptic No 28302 – Saturday, 28 May 2022. Don’t need the dictionary …
Straightforward vocabulary here, except perhaps for the musical instruction at 25A and the slightly unfamiliar answer at 1D. My last few solved were in the NW corner, but yielded to thought.
Times 28,307: If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, En-14ac
A clear maker of the Friday grade, in my book, with every clue being slightly more than minimum-effort. Even the “simple anagrams” are quite fun: who could fail to smile at a moose-ling? Harum-scarum gave … Read more “Times 28,307: If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, En-14ac”
Times Quick Cryptic 2149 by Teazel
I’ve got my second Teazel in a row to blog. Today’s Quick Cryptic is again typically teazing with one or two tricky bits, but not overly so – I finished in a just-over-average time for me of 5:34. I liked the bag-lady, the punishment and the green thing best and finished with 12A. Thank-you Teazel for the excellent crossword and the spelling lesson (q.v.). How did you all get on?