A fun puzzle. Harder than the previous couple of weeks, taking me almost 42 minutes. There were a number of clues where I had knowledge gaps, but could put the answer in with a note … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27120 – Saturday, 18 August 2018. No smoking gun, just smoked haddock.”
Author: branch
Times Cryptic No 27114 – Saturday, 11 August 2018. Please take a ticket and wait.
Many will have encountered difficulties with the club site this weekend, so online times may be uncertain. I solved on paper in 33 minutes, so comparable to last week’s, although it felt if anything a … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27114 – Saturday, 11 August 2018. Please take a ticket and wait.”
Times Cryptic No 27108 – Saturday, 04 August 2018. Hurricanes hardly happen!
Finished in 32 minutes, so I would rate it easier than average. Very nicely clued but all within my ken. My clue of the day was 25ac with the clever wordplay. Also, a call-out to … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27108 – Saturday, 04 August 2018. Hurricanes hardly happen!”
Times Cryptic No 27102 – Saturday, 28 July 2018. Normal service will now resume.
After the struggles of the preceding Thursday and Friday’s puzzles, this Saturday puzzle was a return to what we expect. It wasn’t easy, but had nothing to frighten the horses, or indeed to unseat the … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27102 – Saturday, 28 July 2018. Normal service will now resume.”
Times Cryptic No 27096 – Saturday, 21 July 2018. Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.
After suggestions during the previous week that week-day puzzles were tending to become easier, this number has certainly proved that Saturdays don’t have that problem, for me at least! Perhaps an early sign of the … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27096 – Saturday, 21 July 2018. Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.”
Times Cryptic No 27090 – Saturday, 14 July 2018. Another Pleasant Valley Saturday.
Like last week, this was a slow solve. Again around 50 minutes for me. This one had rather more obscurities, but everything was gettable on a pleasant Saturday. (For vinyl1’s benefit, I’ve recently seen Beautiful, … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27090 – Saturday, 14 July 2018. Another Pleasant Valley Saturday.”
Times Cryptic No 27084 – Saturday, 07 July 2018. Too much football is barely enough?
This took me longer than usual: about 50 minutes. I don’t think it was too hard. Just a well-clued Saturday puzzle. My LOI was 1ac, which took me ages to see, so I’ll call it … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27084 – Saturday, 07 July 2018. Too much football is barely enough?”
Times Cryptic No 27078 – Saturday, 30 June 2018. Don’t raise my hopes.
I started quickly on this one and after about 30 minutes had done all bar two. 3dn was just a blind spot for me, but 4dn is definitely my clue of the day. A very … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27078 – Saturday, 30 June 2018. Don’t raise my hopes.”
Times Cryptic No 27072 – Saturday, 23 June 2018. Thar she blows!
Another typically challenging Saturday puzzle, I thought. I had to do it in bits and pieces because I was otherwise engaged all that day, so I don’t have a time, but it rates as another … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27072 – Saturday, 23 June 2018. Thar she blows!”
Times Cryptic No 27066 – Saturday, 16 June 2018. Fast but unsure.
This took me just over 17 minutes – a new PB, I’m sure, even though I still had several clues to parse for this blog. In fact the blog caused me to reconsider 17ac, so … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27066 – Saturday, 16 June 2018. Fast but unsure.”