Author: Curarist

Well, this is a bit of a multi-definition fest, including two rather neat triples. Not too hard I’d say, 8 min for me. COD 8dn Across 1 Rent holiday place on the Adriatic (5) SPLIT … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1714 by Juno”

I found this thoroughly enjoyable. Some fairly convoluted wordplay, but not too difficult. Describing a banjo as a ‘sort of guitar’ sounds like it might upset a purist somewhere. 6 minutes Across 1 Miser upset … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1704 by Joker”

Nice and easy this week. Hard to pick a winner, but I rather like 18dn for its absurd surface. 5 minutes for me. Across 1 Greek character with naughty crime at sea (6) PIRACY – PI + … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1694 by Trelawney”

Seemed a bit chewy at the time, but is fairly straigtforward in retrospect, which means the surfaces are clever. LOI 6dn – they get me every time. Curarist’s third law states that if you’re completely stumped, it’s probably … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1684 by Joker”

Nine minutes for me, probably towards the harder end of the spectrum. 1ac and 3dn held me up. 8 dn made me smile. Across 1 See both wandering into shops, identifying store for a later … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1674 by Pedro”

8 minutes. Immediately abandoned my attempt to do it as a clean sweep, having been unable to spot 1ac without a bit of help. Generally straightforward, unusual (and helpful) grid pattern. COD 1 dn for sure. … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1664 by Orpheus”

Nice fun puzzle, not too hard. I got tripped up in a couple of places by overcomplicating it. 7 min for me. Across 1 Drunk bringing large snake into bed (9) BLADDERED – L + … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1654 by Wurm”

Not the easiest, but fairly straightforward after the fact. I took a while to spot 7 & 8 down. 9 ac is interesting. Obvious answer, but very unusual parsing, with the definition being dragged into … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1644 by Joker”

I quite liked this, though having overslept and overdone it last night, I could have done with an easier one. Lots of good clues, 23a is my favourite. Not sure about 18dn which seems to … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1634 by Rodney”

Super-straightforward today. 8 minutes for me as a clean sweep. Slight pause at 23ac, but otherwise straight through. Across 1 Distributing stern notices brings penitence (12) CONTRITENESS – anagram (‘distributing’) of STERN NOTICES 8 Tramp … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1624 by Wurm”