Author: branch

This was medium difficulty, I thought. Once more I did it during odd moments and don’t have a time, but at least I did finish. My progress was basically clockwise: NW, NE, SE and SW. … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27336 – Saturday, 27 April 2019. Once more intro the breach.”

For some reason, I was never comfortable working on this crossword. (Sorry, setter. It wasn’t you, it was me, I’m sure.) On the first pass, I only got two answers, and for most clues I … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27330 – Saturday, 20 April. Don’t try this at home.”

Well, nothing easy about this one, although it is all solvable. Certainly there was no biffing for me – each clue required work to unravel. I only got two answers on my first pass, and … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27324 – Saturday, 13 April 2019. Heads down, tails up.”

All done on the morning of, so not outrageously hard. Still, harder than the week before. Fortunately, I had the luxury of doing it on paper, not on a phone, and so, again fortunately, don’t … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27318 – Saturday, 06 April. What’s a Grecian Urn?”

So April has arrived: Whan that Aprill with his shoures sooteThe droghte of March hath perced to the roote. and with it a major announcement from one of our distinguished bloggers. I read it on … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27312 – Saturday, 30 March 2019. Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote ….”

I solved this in quickstep tempo: slow, slow, quick, quick, slow. (Pause for vinyl1 to put on appropriate mood music.) I finished the SE corner after some time and then worked up and left until … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27306 – Saturday, 23 March 2019. In the mood.”

Joy and bliss for me – another Saturday that I could finish without tearing of hair or beating of breast, without spending too much time in a state of 15ac. The NE corner was the … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27300 – Saturday, 16 March 2019. Let bliss and joy abound.”

Welcome, travellers. This puzzle will take us through Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, and a Pacific island, on our way to South America. We’ll need lots of foreign money! The puzzle wasn’t particularly hard, but featured lots … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27294 – Saturday, 09 March 2019. Show me the money.”

This was a fly-by-night effort. In other words, I did it on an inter-city flight on my way home from a long meeting. Under the circumstances, it went reasonably quickly – at least I finished … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27288 – Saturday, 02 March 2019. Snakes on a plane.”