Author: branch

Financially orientated, this puzzle. Those who counts the money, those who bring it home, those who won’t spend it, those who want yours, a thing to put it in, and more. Mind you, the clues … Read more “Times Cryptic No 28110 – Saturday, 16 October 2021. Money, money, money …”

More mention of underwear than typical, I thought. Never mind, if we break out the rum, I’m sure the thought will go away! I liked the artful construction of 1ac, and the devious definition of … Read more “Times Cryptic No 28104 – Saturday, 9 October 2021. Is the sun over the yardarm?”

Unlike Yorick, I’d never heard of the character at 3dn. 12ac was a new idea that stretched my mind. I didn’t know 3dn. 16ac featured the best disguised anagram indicator. Thanks to the setter for … Read more “Times Cryptic No 28098 – Saturday, 2 October 2021. Alas poor Yorick – I knew him, Horatio.”

My LOI was 3dn, and I had a vivid flashback to Biggles and crew when I saw what the definition referred to! In fact, the upper left of the puzzle was all troublesome. I finally … Read more “Times Cryptic No 28092 – Saturday, 25 September 2021. Wizard prang, wot?”

Dear me! I’ve seen the joke at 1ac before, in another context, but it still raised a smile. Everything else was gettable with due effort. I biffed 10ac, and put off parsing it for the … Read more “Times Cryptic No 28086 – Saturday, 18 September 2021. What a shame!”

What a change from the previous week! The consensus on that puzzle was, too many obscurities, too little fun. I was very in tune with Phil J’s view of what makes a good puzzle: Why … Read more “Times Cryptic No 28080 – Saturday, 11 September 2021. The fun of the familiar!”

This puzzle was rich in general knowledge unknowns, at least for me, including: an order of monks, a flowering plant, an obscure foreign language, both the handle and the peak at 6dn, and more. I … Read more “Times Cryptic No 28074 – Saturday, 4 September 2021. Mini Mysteries.”

There were some very clever definitions here; 13ac was my favourite! Is the definition in 18ac really doing double duty as part of the wordplay? If so, we should declare an amnesty since the clue … Read more “Times Cryptic No 28068 – Saturday, 28 August 2021. Make no mistake!”

I didn’t know the answer for 11ac, so I had to appeal to Sylvester the cat for guidance. Nor did I know the place at 4dn, but the duck at 6ac rang a faint bell … Read more “Times Cryptic No 28062 – Saturday, 21 August 2021. Sufferin’ succotash!”