Author: branch

I am posting this blog from Wuhan, China. No, I’d never heard of it either, but it’s one of the largest cities in China, and very modern. Apparently, it once felt less modernized than China’s … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27456 – Saturday, 14 September 2019. Shouldst thou use the second person singular?”

From the ice of 1ac to the searing sun of 27ac, there wasn’t an answer here I didn’t know, but there were lots of clever clues and quite a sprinkling of humour. Thanks to the … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27450 – Saturday 07 September 2019. From frostbite to tropical heat.”

This was relatively straightforward for a Saturday, particularly the wordplay. The fun came from the many cunning definitions, like 17ac, 22ac, 5dn, 8dn and 21dn. I hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks to the setter … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27444 – Saturday, 31 August 2019.”

That was a challenge. It took me a long time to get more than the odd answer here and there around the grid. Then I reflected on what a problem in hierarchies might be, and … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27438 – Saturday, 24 August 2019. Above my pay grade?”

Another nice Saturday challenge. 9ac puzzled me greatly, although I never have trouble deciding what to eat. I still feel I may have missed something about 7dn. My LOI was 3dn – a word I … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27432 – Saturday 17 August 2019. What’s for dinner?”

Another neat puzzle. Some from the Style Monitoring Section (definitely not from The Ministry of Truth!) thought it might have been the work of the same setter as the week before. That thought didn’t occur … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27426 – Saturday 10 August 2019. Big brother is watching you.”

Lots of lovely clues here. Well done, setter. My favourite was the unusual wordplay in 28ac. I also liked the disguise in 3dn, which was my LOI although it’s not that hard in hindsight. For … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27420 – Saturday 3 August 2019. Where there’s a will there’s a cryptic pilot.”

In the main, this was a fairly straightforward solve. Happily, there was no obscure technical items, although there were a couple of answers (27ac and 7dn) where I made a mental note to look in … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27414 – Saturday, 27 July 2019. Blue moon – you saw me standing alone.”

Today’s puzzle is packed full of brilliant clues. Well done, setter! I got the four 15-letter answers fairly early, but even they didn’t 9ac re the rest of the answers. I was at a bit … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27408 – Saturday, 20 July 2019. All the lonely people …”

I’ve spent all this week “emptying our nest”. That turned out to be a big job, so I am writing this blog late and with very little memory of the solving experience. Never mind, our … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27402 – Saturday, 13 July 2019. Free at last.”