Author: Chris

Greetings to all setters, bloggers, posters and lurkers. I found this quite tricky as I struggled to get the long clues at 1ac and 8dn. All highly enjoyable as usual. 1. Keyboarder – one typing … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 991 by Orpheus”

This one just squeaked within my ‘quick’ category but it felt along the way that I was riding a wavelength with Joker. Having completed the blog I see quite a lot of multiple word play … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 986 by Joker”

A real treat served up by Flamande today for those who like to look deeper into the meaning of clues rather than the biff brigade (4dn, 19dn). All this would have been ample entertainment but … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 981 by Flamande”

The debate on completion times last week established that some find them off-putting whilst others find them helpful or irrelevant. In order to try to please most of the people most of the time I’ll … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 976 by Mara”

This grid was defined, to me, by the four 11 letter clues. I enjoyed 17ac and cod 5dn and struggled with the (part) anagrams in 9dn and loi 11ac. Add these to some African warriors … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 971 by Flamande”

I didn’t find this at all easy and had to chip away around the grid. 10 and loi 11ac then formed the final hurdles which took some time to clear. That I made heavy weather … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 966 by Tracy”

At 14 minutes this was something of a contrast (double the time) to the speed trial of yesterday. I suspect some will find parts of this too closely verging on 15×15 material but there’s lots … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 961 by Felix”

The two long anagrams at 14ac and 4dn hold the key to this puzzle – I found them both reasonably easy to get (I particularly enjoyed cod 14ac) and so I had a good time … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 956 by Pedro”

Although there were a couple of literary/musical references, everything was fairly and amusingly clued. As I’ve gone through writing the blog I’ve appreciated how many surfaces have been crafted to make a decent meaning – … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 951 by Howzat”

Corelli has served up an enticing blend of compelling surfaces and word plays which require plenty of mental gymnastics. It took 14 enjoyable minutes to piece it all together. There’s an echo of yesterday’s puzzle … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 946 by Corelli”