This was a bit of a toughie – not a one-day solve. In fact, I picked at it for most of the week, and finally finished on Thursday. The setter seems to be rather fond of letter removal, and even multiple letter removal.
Month: July 2022
Sunday Times Cryptic No 5017 by Robert Price — pure dead brilliant
We’re looking (apparently) for some Caledonian somebody in the first clue, which may have even been my FOI, and then the last Down answer, and definitely my LOI, is a charming Scots term, which could also describe this puzzle, a thorough joy from start to finish.
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1566 – Flying’s disrupted
This was a sub-30 minute breeze with no unknowns or anything else to scare the horses, but there were some very good clues, I thought…
Times Cryptic No 28350 – Saturday, 23 July 2022. There was a crossword puzzle that had a crooked grid …
This grid looked odd to me until I realised it has mirror symmetry about a diagonal, not the vertical axis. Happily there was nothing crooked about the puzzle.
Times Quick Cryptic No 2189 by Alconiere
Today we have an entertaining Quick Cryptic from Alconiere. As I always do with his puzzles, I found it slightly on the tricky side, taking 6:15 which is a bit longer than average for me. Some lovely clues – I particularly liked 9A, 13A, 6D and, my COD, 15D. Furthermore, we have a timely Nina.
Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is my turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the latest crossword, which is entitled “My Holiday Destination” here. Enjoy!
Times 28,355: Don’t Hold Your Breath While Solving This Puzzle
I thought this was just the ticket for a Friday, full of actually educational moments – I’d never heard of 10ac, and that was far from the only thing with an exotic/international feel in this … Read more “Times 28,355: Don’t Hold Your Breath While Solving This Puzzle”
Times Quick Cryptic No 2188 by Hurley
A toughie today from Hurley giving me my first DNF in a while.
Times 28354 – hope it didn’t wig you out
Time taken: 11:32. Early indications are that this is a tricky one, and I had to work through a lot of the wordplay before being confident in most answers, there’s not a lot biffable here. … Read more “Times 28354 – hope it didn’t wig you out”
Times 28353 – a puzzle for the curious
Not a difficult puzzle, but one of those that required a little literary knowledge and led me into the depths of Wikipedia to explore the stories or origins behind some of the answers.
Times Quick Cryptic 2187 by Orpheus
Nice and gentle for me today.