It was possible for several answers to be biffed, only to find I raised a smile when I understood their wordplay.
Author: branch
Times Cryptic 28722 – Sat, 30 Sept 2023. A? I? A? I? Ohhh!!
Some very clever clues.
Times Cryptic 28716 – Sat, 23 Sept 2023. Living in an anagram universe
Getting the two long anagrams quickly at 9 and 23 across made this puzzle much more amenable! The rest went fairly smoothly.
Times Cryptic 28710 – Sat, 16 Sept 2023. Hid his light?
Suitably eclectic this week. Those in tune may have flown through it.
Times Cryptic 28704 – Sat, 9 Sept 2023. Poor Yorrick – punnished enough?
There was much biffing and grinding in this one.
Times Cryptic 28698 – Sat, 2 Sept 2023. Sweet little lies?
So, how many are into non-alcoholic drinks, I wonder? (We may not believe 15ac.) Clever wordplay, without esoterica – my kind of thing!
Times Cryptic 28692 – Sat, 26 Aug 2023. Animal farming?
This was fun! I loved the pun at 1dn, the various animal references and the jest at 20dn. The challenging anagrams were nice too.
Times Cryptic No 28686 – Saturday, 19 August 2023. Dinged on …
I struggled with the answer at 22dn, partly for reasons of grammar; and even more with the (very) foreign answer at 21 across, clued as an anagram.
Times Cryptic No 28680 – Saturday, 12 August 2023. Don’t put your wife in the prison, Mr Worthington!
Generally I don’t like cross-references to other clues, but the word play in 15ac was nice enough to make up for that. I liked the literal definition at 21ac too.
Times Cryptic No 28674 – Saturday, 5 August 2023. If winter is summer …
As the northern hemisphere gets scorched, here down under we are enjoying winter days up to 10ºC above normal. Happy to report I’m posting this blog from a coastal resort. Very pleasant, for now!