Author: Curarist

This was a five-minute romp, and very wecome given my post-birthday hangover. It’s probably the easiest one I’ve ever blogged, despite the slighly unhelpful grid. Loads of double definitions. I did enjoy the freak of nature … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1844 by Mara”

I took a while getting going with this, and I’m going to guess that a lot of people will find it difficult. Some good clues, but some of the devices are a little advanced for … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1834 by Felix”

An enjoyable workout. Not sure I can predict how difficult people will find it, as there are some very straighforward clues as well as a few others that I couldn’t see straight away, e.g. 5ac, 10ac. … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1824 by Mara”

This was very pleasant, and not too difficult for the most part. I seemed to biff my way through it fairly rapidly, getting held up only on 15ac and 16dn. 8 minutes. Across 1 Turned up … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1814 by Pedro”

I ripped through this in 5 minutes, in may cases without parsing, and on reflection there are some absolute crackers. I’m particularly fond of 1ac, 8ac, 14 ac and 3 dn, but overall the surfaces are … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1804 by Wurm”

Hmm, a bit chewy I thought. Some of the wordplay is a little stiff for the QC, and some of the answers seemed somewhat unsatisfying, lacking the thunderbolt of certainty that a good clue gives. … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1794 by Tracy”

More tricky than average, I’d say. Took me about 8 and a half minutes. No anagrams! COD 5dn Across 1 Order ambassador to infiltrate elite (6) BEHEST – Ambassabor in crosswords is HE (his/her excellency). … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1784 by Pedro”

Seasons greetings one and all. So there’s a fairly obvious theme here, and also some obscure vocabulary. I imagine the latter is there so that the former can be crowbarred in. But wordplay is fairly easy overall, … Read more “Eleven Days of Christmas – QC 1774 by Noel”

Nothing to scare the horses here, I think. Overall a nice set of surfaces, my favourite has to be 10ac. 6 minutes for me. Across 1 Look at and follow monitor (8) WATCHDOG – WATCH  … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1764 by Tracy”

Right, so what to say about this one. Fairly chewy in places, some not-altogether-straightforward vocabulary, but enjoyable nonetheless. I’m not sure about 1dn, but I expect someone who owns four different dictionaries will provide definitive … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1754 by Margaret and Bob”